Foreign
by xprimrose
Summary: Hijikata and Sougo surprisingly end up having a silent battle over the love of a fellow Shinsengumi, who they don't realize is actually a girl in disguise! She must also keep her male alter ego a secret from her house mates, Gin, Kagura, and Shinpachi. Sort of Coffee Prince x Gintama x my own imagination mash up!
1. Chapter 1

I made an effort to keep my eyes pinned on the ground as I wandered through the run-down city. I had gone almost four days without food, and although it was normal on my planet to eat only once a week, I knew my body wouldn't be able to function right if I didn't find something to fill my stomach. My feet came to a halt as I spotted a strange circular metal device sitting blatantly in the middle of the street. Using just the tip of my boot, I gently nudged it aside to see if it would do anything. A beeping sound suddenly omitted from the object, and I took a step back in curiosity.

"Aish, damn it" I heard someone huff under their breath. Not too far from where I was standing, a man with long black hair closely resembling mine, pushed himself up off the floor and adjusted his rice patty hat. "That wasn't meant for you to find." He muttered, sounding a bit irritated. "We better get out of here before things get messy, Elizabeth." He motioned for the large penguin-looking creature beside him to follow, and the pair disappeared before I could say a word. I looked back at the object. The beeping became quicker and quicker, and I stood there blankly, not knowing what I should do with it. Suddenly, the noise came to a stop. In a spilt second after that, an explosion erupted from the spot, and destroyed everything within a twenty foot perimeter from the device. It occurred to me that perhaps the object I was messing with was some sort of bomb, in which I had triggered by nudging with my foot. I was sent flying backwards from the amount of blast energy, but managed to land on my feet , completely unharmed. It seemed bombs on this planet were much weaker than back home. I didn't have even a small scratch anywhere on me. I stood in that spot for a while, as people around me began rushing outside to see what all the noise was about. I heard screams coming from worried mothers, who began rushing to get their children away from the scene. My eyes focused on the spot where the bomb was set, which was now nothing but a black ring of ash. I then shrugged, turning around. I wasn't going to stick around and take the blame for it. Adjusting my shirt, I once again began treading in the opposite direction.

"You there!" I heard someone shout through the smoke. I ignored it and continued walking. "Stop!" I felt a hand touch my shoulder and roughly tug back. "Don't think you can escape from the Shinsengumi, you damn rebel." His voice was deep, and his grip on me was tight, as if signifying to me that I wasn't going to be able to escape. I turned around to face this stranger and saw he had on some sort of frilly uniform.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, staring directly into his eyes .This was the first human I had spoken to since arriving on Earth. I had been making an effort to avoid interaction with anyone who didn't seem to be of help to me, to avoid unnecessary conflict that would involve exposing the fact that I was an Amanto. Although, it seemed too late now. Setting off that bomb was now obviously going to cause a lot of problems.

"Don't try to play dumb. I saw you set off that bomb with my own eyes, and you walk away as if nothing happened. There are more Shinsengumi in this city than you think, and we're always on the lookout for crooks like you." He now pulled my arms behind my back. "Im taking you down to the station, and you're gonna tell us where that damn leader of yours, Katsura, is hiding." I felt something clink around my wrist and quickly jerked myself away from him in defense. A strange cuff-like thing with a chain had been attached to one of my arms and the other side was left hanging off. I met the surface of the metal cuff with a small flame that had ignited on my finger. The metal slowly melted away and eventually the chain fell to the ground, making jingling, rattling noise.

"I don't know who this Katsura-chan that you're talking about is, but I apologize for the explosion. Anyway, I'll be off now." Quickly I turned around and scurried away, this time at a bit quicker pace than before.

"Oi! Stop right there!" He called after me. At this point, I began running from him as quickly as I could, maneuvering my way through the crowds of people and food stands in the streets. I ran for about a mile until I could no longer hear the footsteps of him and his men behind me. When I felt I was finally at a safe distance, I turned around to see if he was still chasing me. There were too many people, and they had been lost among the crowd. Breathing a sigh of relief, I turned around and began walking at my normal, sluggish speed once more.

It was already entering autumn season, but the sun was still beating down hard that particular day. I escaped to a nearby takoyaki stand and sat underneath the canopy of shade. I rested my elbows on the wooden table and threw my bag onto it aswell.

"Excuse me onee-san. Your bag is in my eating space." I whipped my head in response to the childish female voice that had spoken to me. Her orange hair and blue eyes seemed oddly familiar to me and I cocked my head in response.

"… Kagura-chan?" I murmured. Her eyes suddenly widened and dropped her chopsticks to the floor.

"Hannie-saaan!" She yelped, pulling me into a tight embrace. I felt the air knock out of my chest.

"It's Han-san." I smiled sheepishly, returning her hug gently. "What a relief to see someone I recognize. Who would've thought I'd meet you here on earth, out of all places!" She grinned at this, and let go of me.

"I know huh! Gin-san, Shinpachi. This is my old friend Hannie-san. We fought against each other in a national girls' fighting competition on our planets a long time ago. She's pretty strong, way stronger than you two, anyway." I laughed at her comment and shook my head in modesty,

"Kagura's a pretty strong little lady herself. Though, I'm sure you two already know that."

"We do…" The silver-haired man mumbled. The boy with glasses nodded beside him with a grim expression on his face.

"So Hannie-san, what are you doing here on Earth anyway? I thought I'd be able to find decent work here, but instead I ended up with these two." Her expression was serious, but something in her tone told me she was secretly thankful to be with them.

"Actually Kagura-chan," I started, placing my hands in my lap. "My sister sent me here hoping I could find work, since our planet is still suffering from effects of the war. She wanted me to live somewhere that I can have opportunities, to make a good life for myself since she can't." I looked down at my hands, now thinking of my sister, and what she was risking by sending me here. Kagura looked at Gin, her giddy expression now gone from her face. She began tugging on his yukata sleeve, which was practically already half off.

"Gin-san, let her stay with us. She's a friend, and I know she'll be able to help us too, since you two are too lazy to do anything." She pleaded.

"No, I barely have enough money to pay you two. I can't afford another worker."

"You don't even pay us." Shinpachi muttered bitterly.

"In any case, we are barely able to support ourselves. We can help you find a place to stay, but it definitely can't be with us-" Kagura jumped in front of the man's face and socked him square in the jaw, knocking him out of his chair. He landed roughly on the ground and moaned in pain.

"You can stay with us , onee-san." She smiled. "Gin-san says it's alright. Right Gin-san?" The man only nodded slowly in reply. I smiled nervously.

"Thank you," I said, "Then, I promise to work very hard."

* * *

**Hello everyone !~**

**thank you so much for reading.**

**I recently started watching Gintama and the characters are so well developed and lovable, i just had to write a fanfic!**

**Anyway, this is just an intro chapter, and I assure you, all the other chapters will be more interesting **

**I hope you'll all stick around to see how this story unravels, because I spent all night plotting it and wouldn't let myself sleep till i finished ;u;**

**(by the way guys, if i didn't make it clear, she can bend fire)**

**reviews are greatly appreciated!~**


	2. Chapter 2

"This is a great place to work. You get free food any time you want." Kagura said, happily chowing down a large bowl of white rice.

"Kagura-san! That food isn't free! You're going to make the manager angry when he comes back!" Shinpachi quickly snatched the bowl from her hands and slammed it back onto the table. Of course, it was already empty.

"Oi, oi you two, keep it down. Some of us are actually trying to work here." The two stared at Gin with disbelief, as he sat with one leg crossed over the other in a wooden chair by the door. I let out a little chuckle at their quarreling and turned back to the grill. Using one hand to wipe my forehead and the other to hold onto the pan, I shifted around the ingredients and frowned.

"This isn't cooking fast enough." I pouted. "The customers are going to get angry if we don't get food out there soon."

I had been refraining from using my fire bending skills on earth, because I was aware of how destructive it could be if misused. However, I didn't think cooking some fish could be much of a threat, and so setting down the pan, I used my palm to heat over the fish evenly. Just as I thought, it cooked up beautifully and I smiled to myself as I flipped it onto a clean plate. "Order up!" I slid the dish across the counter to Shinpachi, who grinned a smile of relief, and rushed out of the kitchen, making sure not to drop it on the way to the customer. After figuring out this method, the cooking became much easier. Orders were coming in quickly and I continued to use my palm to grill the food, in addition to the frying pan. It was a useful technique, and I wondered to myself how the regular chefs at the restaurant were able to cook fast enough on their own.

A few minutes into cooking, I heard a pair of footsteps approach the kitchen. "Who's cooking the food here?" A somehow familiar sounding voice called out. I saw two pairs of legs enter the kitchen. I turned around and recognized a tall man with black hair and a cigarette bud hanging out of his mouth. He used his right hand to hold up the curtain separating the kitchen from the rest of the restaurant and leered in to look at the four of us. Beside him stood a shorter male, with brown hair and a matching uniform. He said nothing.

"What are you doing here?" Gin asked, as he stood up and scratched the back of his head.

"The kitchen is for chefs only, get out you weenies!" Kagura growled at him. Bits and pieces of a dish I just cooked remained on her cheeks and mouth.

"Not that any of us are cooking besides Han-san." Shinpachi sighed to himself. The raven haired man at the door had a strange gaze in his eyes, as if he were staring off at something distant.

"I just came to say, that okonomiyaki was the best thing my taste buds have ever had the pleasure to touch. And it … didn't even have mayonnaise on top." The three of them gave him the same odd look ,as if he had just admitted to something wild. He glared back at them, but hints of pink rose up in his cheeks.

"Hannie-san cooked it." Kagura smiled, pointing at me. "She's good at everything."

The man now averted his attention over towards me, and I set the pan down. I turned to face him with one hand in front of me, and the other pushing my hair out of my eyes.

"I'm glad you liked it." I smirked softly and bowed. He didn't say anything for a moment, and cocked his head at me. He dropped his hand and let the curtain fall behind him.

"Wait a minute, you're that girl from the bomb explosion, aren't you? What are you doing here?" Now I realized why he had sounded so familiar. I slowly began backing away from him and turned back around to face the grill.

"Ah, you're that cop in the frilly uniform who tried to put handcuffs on me. I remember. I know what those are now, Kagura-chan told me." I picked up the pan and resumed cooking the dish for the next order.

"I guess you weren't the one who set it there after all. We found Katsura not too long after you ran off, but he managed to escape us again." He clicked his tongue. "Though, it's still a federal offense to set off a bomb in public. We still have the right to arrest you." I said nothing in reply, and continued to fry the batter. "Anyway, now that I know _you're_ the one who made that okonomiyaki, its suddenly not that good anymore." He turned around to leave. " We're in a hurry now anyway. We'll deal with you later. Come on, Sougo." The two of them left the kitchen, just as sudden as they had entered. I scoffed to myself.

"You're just gonna let him take back a compliment like that, Han-san? A true samurai would protect his honor and go kick his ass." Gin muttered jokingly. He let out a long yawn and slumped back into the chair.

"I'm not a samurai though, Gin-san. I'm an amanto." I chuckled gently. "Besides, he said he loved my cooking, he can't really take that back."

"Onee-san you don't have to be nice to stupid guys like Hiji-baka. It's a good thing to beat them up once and awhile when they say mean things like that to you. You're strong enough, go burn all his hair off!" It was hard to understand Kagura through all the food stuffed inside her cheeks,

"I'll be sure to do that next time, Kagura-chan." I picked up the plate I had just finished and carried it towards the kitchen entrance. "I'll take this one out, Shinpachi-san." He nodded at me and plopped himself down beside Gin.

"Good, I'm exhausted. You cook way too fast for me." He slumped into the same position Gin was sitting in. Kagura remained standing near the rice pot, waiting for it to cook her a new batch. I lifted the curtain above my head and stood there for a moment, trying to find table number seven.

"Han-san," I stopped with the dish in my hand and turned around. "How do you know Hijikata anyway?" Gin asked me, using his pinky to pick his nose. I kept the plate balanced in my hand with the curtain still in the other.

"Hijikata? Is that his name?" I murmured to myself. Strangely enough, I began to feel the palms of my hand getting sweaty. I looked at Gin-san. "I accidentally set off a bomb that was lying in the street," I explained, "So he started chasing after me. That's when I ran into you guys."

"Ah, that makes sense." He nodded. "I'm guessing Katsura meant for us to find that bomb then. Funny that you would, though." Gin chuckled to himself.

"I heard that the explosion took down that convenience store that held the first ever edition of JUMP." Shinpachi said, knowingly. He crossed his arms and smirked at Gin. "Not so funny now, is it?"

"…What?" Gin jumped up from his chair. "You mean to say that the first edition is gone… forever?" Shinpachi let out a laugh.

"Calm down Gin-san, I was just kidding around with you. How would I know something like that anyway?"

"Don't mess with me like that, you jerk." Gin pouted, and plopped back down in his seat.

"Yeesh, you're a grown man now and you still get worked up over little things like that. When are you going to grow up—"

"Onee-san! Your hand!" Kagura shouted, rushing over to me. I was shocked, and quickly let go of the curtain, but it was too late. Somehow I had managed to catch the cloth on fire, and it was spreading rather quickly up and towards the ceiling.

"Quick, someone put it out!" Gin shouted hastily, searching around hurriedly for something to contain water in.

"I got it!" Kagura ran over to me with a towel and began flapping away at the fire. "I saw it in a show once." Unfortunately she had stood too close to the flame and the towel had caught onto the fire. She threw it on the floor in a hasty manner as soon as she realized. Now the fire was spreading itself across the entire kitchen floor.

"Kagura-san what are you doing!" Shinpachi shouted, panic-stricken. "Can't you put this out, Han-san?" He pleaded.

"I can't, I can only create fire. I have no control over how to put it out, I'm afraid." I shook my head and ran to get a bucket.

"Let's get out of here. There's no possible way we can put it out now." Gin said. He was right, the fire had already quickly spread all around the kitchen and soon everything would be burnt to ashes. Before I had the chance to argue, he grabbed me around the waist and pulled me out of the kitchen and ran towards the exit.

"Hey, what's going on?" Hijikata shouted at us. Sougo stood beside him, with wide eyes, but said nothing. Instead, he just watched as we raced out of the store. Gin ignored his question and ran straight by him. We recieved many strange glances from the customers, but Gin didn't stop to look back. We couldn't afford to stay.

* * *

When we arrived back home, it was already dark out. Gin had thrown himself across the couch, exhausted from having dragged me all the way back. I insisted several times that I was capable of running myself, but for some reason he still refused to let me out of his arms. He was snoring now, and in his sleep he began moaning something about a chocolate parfait.

"Sadaharu, come sit next to me." I motioned for him to lay down by my spot on the floor. He interpreted this as an invitation to chomp on my head instead, and his teeth dug deep into my skull. A stream of blood fell down the side of my temple. I sighed.

"Sadaharu must really like you, Han-chan! You're barely bleeding." Kagura smiled, sitting herself down beside me.

"Yes, well." I grabbed the dog's giant jaws and pried them open to release my head from its clamp. "I appreciate the love, Sadaharu. But my head unfortunately does not." He barked happily and nuzzled his large head into my side. I sighed, and began to stroke his head. His tail wagged back and forth powerfully. The sound of knocking causedSadaharu to look up, and his wagging tail came to a halt. Shinpachi got up from the couch. "Who could it be at this hour?" he asked himself, and slid open the front door. "H-Hijikata-san. What are you doing here?" He asked, sounding a bit apprehensive.

"Hijikata's here?" Gin said, now suddenly awake. "I have to get out of here. I don't have the money to fix that restaurant. Distract him while I climb out the window!" He made a mad dash for his room and I heard him slide up the window and begin sticking one leg out.

"Relax, doofus. That's not what I'm here for. I'm here to talk to the girl." He pushed Shinpachi aside and advanced towards me. I stopped petting Sadaharu and stood up.

"What do you need?" I asked him, brushing off my clothes. I headed towards my room and motioned for him to come along. He followed and slid the door shut behind him. He took a drag from his cigarette and let out a puff of smoke before speaking. I crossed my arms and looked at him. "Well?"

"The Shinsengumi heard about the incident today. I told them you were the one who caused it, and that you have the unique ability to create fire." I began to wonder if he was going to try and arrest me again, but he continued to talk. "Although what we really should be doing is locking you up, we've decided you could be somewhat of a good asset on our team." He narrowed his eyes and waited my response. I shifted my weight onto one leg.

"I appreciate the job offer, but I would never let myself work for government dogs like the Shinsengumi. I've gone through too much during the war to start believing you guys actually do things for the good of citizens."

"You don't understand," He frowned, raising his voice a bit. "We aren't involved in such things like the war. We simply want to protect the citizens of Edo and keep them safe. But if you don't want to work for us, then fine. I didn't want to recruit you in the first place anyway. Sougo was the one who proposed the idea. He's always full of bad ideas though." Hijikata pinched the bridge of his nose and took another drag from his cigarette. "Fine then, now that's over with. I'll be going." He slid open the door and stepped out. I followed behind him and left the door open to air out the smell of cigarettes.

Once at the door, he turned around to face me. "Just don't come back to us when you realize what a great job offer you've turned down."

"I understand," I nodded, and shut the door.

* * *

**Hello my lovely readers!~**

**Here you go, chapter two! **

**I'm really excited about this story, and I apologize for the first two chapters being so dry**

**hopefully you'll stick around for the future, because believe me, I've got a lot planned out .**

**If you read the summary, I'm sure you can already guess what's gonna happen in the future**

**I feel like I'm writing "Coffee Prince" , But gintama version, LOL**

**anyway, thanks so much for reading**

**Reviews are greatly appreciated!~**


	3. Chapter 3

The sound of Kagura's stomach was loud enough to reach me from across the room. I looked up at her and a smirk tugged at the corner of my mouth.

"Gin-saan, I'm hungry!" She complained, getting up. She walked over to him on the couch and prodded at his cheeks. "I want food."

"I already told you, we don't have money for real food. Go get an ice pop from the freezer, just don't eat them all. That's the only thing we've got left." He lazily raised one hand and pointed towards the kitchen, all the while keeping his eyes glued to his newest edition of JUMP. Kagura let out a huff. I watched as she dragged her feet and slumped her shoulders, groaning at the sight of another ice pop.

Shinpachi had not been home all day. In the morning, when I opened the door to his room to ask what he wanted for breakfast, I was surprised to see he had already gone out. I was usually the early riser of the house, and Gin decided that meant I was in charge of breakfast every morning. Though, it was hard to cook anything with an empty refrigerator. Ice pops seemed to be our back-up meal when we didn't have food, which meant we pretty much had it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

"Gin-san…" I started. The smirk had now disappeared from my face. "Don't you think we should be out looking for a job right now?"

"This _is_ our job. We wait for people to come and ask us to do things for them, and they pay us. That's how this place works." He let out a long yawn and scratched through his disheveled hair. "And besides, do you think I haven't been trying to find another job? It's harder than it looks." He flipped through another page of JUMP and leaned further back into his chair. Judging from that sort of posture, it was hard to believe he even got out of the house.

"Yeah, I know it is, Gin-san." I replied, with a hint of distance in my voice. For a moment, the only noise in the room was that of Kagura munching on her popsicles and Gin flipping another page of his magazine. I stared at the floor for a moment, then turned towards the door and began slipping my shoes on.

"Where are you going?" Gin asked me, looking up from his magazine. Kagura cocked her head at me, as if asking the same question.

"I'll be back soon. Just need to pick up a few things from the store." I waved after them.

"Onee-san you've got money? Pick me up something to eat! I'm getting sick of these stupid ice pops." Kagura sucked up the remaining frozen liquid from the tube and tossed it at Gin's head. He flinched but didn't say a word.

"Sure I'll see what I can do. See you guys later." I slipped out the door, already feeling my palms get sweaty.

* * *

By the time I arrived at the store, it was already about four in the afternoon. The air outside was cool, and now much more appropriate for the incoming fall season. A bell above the door jingled as I entered the shop. "Irasshaimase!" I heard someone welcome me from the counter. I bowed at her, and grabbed a basket from the front of the shop. I spotted a sign above one of the rows that read "_Bandages/First Aid_" and approached the aisle. My eyes searched up and down the shelves until I found just what I needed. Grabbing for the bundle of elastic bandages, I threw it into my basket and scurried onto the next aisle, which was where the cosmetics were located. I strolled past the nails and makeup sections, but couldn't seem to find what I was looking for. From the corner of my eye I saw someone dressed in a red apron pass by the row, and I quickly ran to chase after him. Once caught up, I gently tapped him on the shoulder.

"Excuse me, could you please tell me where the wigs are? I can't seem to find them." I slid the bag onto the crevice of my right elbow. The male turned around and the fluorescent lighting of the store seemed to gleam off of his glasses.

"Han-san? What are you doing here?" Shinpachi asked, sounding a bit surprised.

"Shinpachi-san! Why, I should be asking you the same question!" I forced out a nervous chuckle.

"Oh, well, you see..." He started, scratching at the back of his neck. "I felt we weren't making enough money at the Yorozuya so I thought I'd take up another job in the meanwhile, you know, so we can actually have a decent meal for once." He smiled sheepishly at me, and I returned it with a small grin.

"How considerate of you, taking care of us like that. I'll have to repay you one day." I replied. He nodded.

"It's nothing really, it's for all of us." He rubbed one side of his arm. "So, what did you need help finding?"

"It's nothing," I replied as calmly as I could. "I know where it is." I patted his head gently. "Anyway, work hard, and I expect you to be home by dinnertime. Please buy us some food if you can. I'm all out of money and Kagura's getting cranky." I waved at him and quickly ducked into another row. Once I heard him shuffle away, I made my way towards the back of the store where I finally found what I needed.

The wigs ranged from short to long and had a rather large color variety. I tip-toed up and reached for a dark brown, short-hair male wig. Using the small hair tie wrapped around my wrist, I gathered my long black hair into a bun and secured it. Then, I held the front of the wig with my hands spread and pulled it onto my scalp. It felt slightly tight, like it was squeezing my head, and a bit itchy in some parts. Certain strands of hair didn't seem to fall right on my face, and I could barely see a thing past it. I found a mirror nearby and as soon as I took a glance into it, I nearly burst out in laughter. It seemed I had put the wig on backwards. Quickly flipping it around and pulling it back down onto my head, I checked myself once again. It surprisingly didn't look half bad on me. Thanks to my dark eyebrows and small face, I could actually pull off as a passable male. I heard footsteps coming towards me and quickly pulled the wig off, leaving my hair flung all across my face. A middle aged man entered the row and realized it was a false alarm. I grabbed a wig cap from a basket beneath the rack, and ran towards the cashier. I wanted to get out of there before Shinpachi spotted me again.

* * *

I wasn't in the store for very long, and so it was still light out by the time I left. The wind blew gently through my hair, not enough to get wiled up all in my face, but just enough to tousle it around a bit. This was my favorite season of the year because it wasn't overwhelmingly hot, but just cool enough for comfort. Although being born with the ability of fire was a great gift, it also meant my body did not take to cold weather very well. Fortunately for me, the winters on my planet felt just like autumn on earth, so I never had to deal with very harsh conditions. However, knowing that the atmosphere would eventually get colder once Japan hit winter, I knew I had to be careful in the future.

Now that it had been a few weeks since I arrived on Earth, I was able to walk around more confidently. Instead of having my eyes plastered to the sidewalk, I began to pay more attention to my surroundings. A group of children were playing with a plastic ball by the street corner, so I crossed to the other side, not wanting to interrupt their game. Regardless of what conflicts went on between the samurais and the Amanto, I felt that Edo was otherwise a peaceful place to live.

A sharp pain shot across the top of my right shoulder, shocking me, and causing me to drop my bags. I gasped as my belongings poured out onto the dirt road.

"Missed again."I heard someone sigh from within one of the alleys. Out from the shadows stepped the brown haired Shinsengumi I had run into at the restaurant. Sougo was his name, I believe. He stood there staring into space for a moment. I bent down and began shoving my things back into the bag. I looked behind me for a brief second to see what he had been aiming at. In the far distance I was sure I could see someone else wearing the same uniform as him, but no one suspicious enough to be deemed as a possible target. I looked back at my bag and found him also crouched down beside me. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I was aiming for someone else but you got in the way." He began picking up the package containing my wig. I quickly snatched it from his hands and tried not to make eye contact. I stood up and brushed my pants off.

"It's no problem. Thank you for helping me." I said, swinging the bag back over my shoulder. Before I could go, I felt a sharp stinging sensation on my arm where the bullet had hit, and cringed. Blood began seeping through my white blouse.

"Oh no, it hit you." He murmured, gently placing his hand on my arm. He leaned in to examine the injury.

"I-it's no big deal. It just skimmed off my shoulder, that's all. I'll be fine." I put my hand on his wrist and slowly pushed it away. He frowned and took a step back from me, for some reason he seemed hurt in a way. There was a distant look in his eyes as I spoke. "I'll… be off then." I said. I began to walk away, and when I felt there was a considerable distance between us, I ran. For some reason though, I continued to feel his eyes on me, all the way back home.

* * *

When I arrived back at the apartment, I noticed Shinpachi's shoes sitting neatly on the mat outside. "I'm home." I called, sliding open the door. Gin wasn't in his usual spot on the couch, and neither was Kagura. "Anyone here?"

"We're in the kitchen, Onee-san!" Kagura called to me. "Shinpachi brought home some food. We're having a real dinner for once!" Already I could tell the tone in her voice had changed, now that we were talking about food. I smiled and slid off my boots.

"Come join us, Han-chan. The food's almost finished." Gin waved for me to come over.

"Sure, let me just set my stuff down first." I went into my room and tossed the bags onto my bed letting out a little sigh. Then, grabbing a fresh new shirt, I unbuttoned my current one and pulled the other over my head. I grimaced at the blood stain with the shirt in my hand, but decided I'd tend to the wound later; my friends were waiting for me.

* * *

I got up earlier than usual that next morning. I finished my normal routine of brushing my teeth and washing my face, quietly of course, and making sure not to wake the others. Once back in my room, I pulled off my shirt and reached for the bandages I had bought the night before.

"How does this work…" I whispered to myself. Taking one end of the bandage, I held it firmly to the side of my chest and began wrapping it tightly around my body, making sure there was barely enough space for me to breathe. Once the bandage came to an end, I used the metal clips provided to secure the ends onto the rest of the cloth. I let go of my other hand and was relieved to see it stayed. I jumped around a bit and twisted my body to see if it would move, but it wouldn't budge. Satisfied, I began rummaging through my drawer for something I could wear that could pass as male clothing. The only thing I had was a long black robe with a white collar and strap across the waist. I slid off my clothes and pulled the robe over my arms. I secured the strap with a tight knot and stood in front of the mirror, adjusting myself till it looked right. Then for the finishing touch, I pulled all my hair back into the wig cap and placed the brown wig on top to cover it. Looking at the mirror, I could barely recognize myself, and with that, I smiled, and quietly left the house.

* * *

"I'd like to join the-" I cleared my throat. "Please train me to become a-" I was practicing my man-voice while walking down the street. Though, no matter how much I rehearsed it, I couldn't seem to get my voice low enough, or atleast to a believable tone. I decided using my normal speaking voice would my best bet, since it would be easier than to use a fake one like that all the time. I tried again, and this time lowering my voice as much as possible, just to mock myself. "Hello there Shinsengumi-san. My name is Ha-"

"What?" A deep, booming voice interrupted me. My head immediately shot up. "Who are you?" He asked me, raising an eyebrow. A familiar cigarette hung loosely out of his lips.

"Ha…chiro." I stuttered. "My name is Hachiro, a-and I'd like to become part of the Shinsemgumi."

* * *

**Hello my lovelies ~**

**Sorry I skipped out on writing yesterday night**

**but alas, a third update is here !**

**I really hope you guys enjoy this chapter, (well, all chapters)**

**As you can tell this is a complete lead in for the upcoming events**

**oooohhh i wonder how she's gonna deal with this !~**

**By the way I know I shouldn't keep doing this but if it wasn't clear,**

**she got a second job so that she could help the others get along since they're so extraordinarily poor**

**but yeah, enjoy , and i'll see you all next update**

**Reviews are GREATLY appreciated :D**


	4. Chapter 4

The sun had not even been up by the time we began training. I arrived right on time, just as everyone began grabbing their wooden swords for morning practice. We were to follow Hijikata's exact orders, and repeat each exercise until he allowed us to stop. Because I was new to the Shinsengumi, he had one of the officers demonstrate each exercise a couple times so I could get the hang of it.

"Ichi, ni, san!" Hijikata shouted during the third exercise. We were to swing our sword down in front of us, to the right, left, then back up. "…Gojuu ichi, gojuu ni!" Already the other members seemed to be breaking sweat. Their muscles began flexing harder and I could see their veins begin to show through their skin. Although judging from the expressions on their faces, Hijikata seemed to be the only one serious about the drills. They all had a sort of a lazy stare in their eyes and none of them showed even a hint of pride. Though perhaps it was still too early in the morning for their emotions to be working. I was surprised at how weak humans seemed to be, if they were already getting worn out. My arms were not sore, in fact it barely felt like I was lifting a thing. HIjikata circled around us menacingly as we performed the exercises, as if watching to catch anyone who slacked off for even a second. Once he turned his back towards me and walked the other direction, I let out a small yawn. From the corner of my eye, I could feel someone's gaze on me. With Hijikata still turned away, I twisted my neck slowly and saw Sougo's head quickly duck away from one of the bushes. His auburn hair tousled with a flick of his neck.

"Sougo-san?" I called softly, wondering to myself why he wasn't in form with the rest of us.

"Hey!" Hijikata's sharp hearing had somehow heard my call. I turned to look back at him. "No talking during training! Where is Sougo? Get your lazy butt out here you nitwit!" I noticed that not once had I ever heard Hijikata speak without raising his voice. He was always accusing someone of something, or ordering them around. This was the type of person I liked the least. But alas, no one ever said I had to get along with my vice commander. I'm sure a lot of people didn't like him, all that mattered was that we respected him.

There was no reply from Sougo, but instead a bit of rustling in the bushes. "Damn it Sougo," Hijikata muttered. He stormed over to the bush while the rest of us watched contently, curious as to what would happen next.

"Ah, Hijikata-san. I didn't hear you over this bush. Wow, has training started already?" Sougo slowly crept out from the bush with a strange, red sleeping mask over his eyes.

"Don't play stupid!" Hijikata snarled. "Get in place, you slacker!" He raised his leg to kick him, but Sougo was able to swiftly dodge it, even with the mask over his eyes. He pulled it off and quickly grabbed a sword from the basket. He then took his spot behind me.

"Good morning, Sougo-san." I nodded at him quietly as everyone began resuming the exercises. He seemed a bit flustered for some reason, though he didn't seem the type to get affected by people like HIjikata. He seemed like one of those guys who would rather be the man than work for the man. Sougo had a rebellious aura about him that I sort of admired. He looked up at me,

"How do you know my name?" He asked. I felt a panic run up my spine, realizing "Hachiro" and him hadn't met yet. Though for some reason he didn't seem all that surprised. It seemed as if he was just curious. I thought perhaps I could brush it off as something else.

"You're my Captain, aren't you? Of course I'd know who you are." I forced out a fake smirk. I decided my usual grin was too girly for my male alter ego, so I spent all morning perfecting my charming new smile. Although it wasn't as much charming as much as just a crooked sneer. Either way, it helped in hiding my real identity.

"Huh, is that so. It's a surprise anyone gets recognition around here besides Hijikata." He scoffed. I felt my shoulders loosen up a bit, relieved that he'd bought it.

"Well you're both rather important people to this organization. I figured you'd both get a lot of respect."

"Hijikata doesn't seem to think so. He treats all the rest of us as underlings and nothing more." He looked away from me. "Turn around or he's gonna scream at us again." I did as I was told and continued to swing the wooden sword.

"He seems to treat you a little better than everyone else, though. I mean you're both always together." I whispered.

"Either way, I'm still below him. I aim to be vice commander one day." He spat out spitefully. I twisted my mouth in uncertainty.

"It's like you want to take his spot, huh?"

"More than anything." He whispered. "You have no idea."

Sougo and I continued to talk all throughout morning practice , and Hijikata seemed too eloped in yelling at the other slackers to pay attention to us. I found that I liked Sougo's character a lot more than Hijikata. He was calmer and easier to speak with, and something about him felt very inviting. He made me feel like I was the only one who was able to see this insightful side of him, and for some reason that drew me to him even more. Although he seemed perhaps a bit power hungry, I was glad that at least we both had a mutual disliking of our vice commander, and even though that was a strange thing to be glad about, I wasn't afraid to be myself around him.

"Good practice today, rookie!" I heard someone say behind me as I threw the wooden sword back into the basket. "Looks like you'll fit in after all!" I felt someone playfully smack my behind, and I quickly turned around. A familiar goatee resided on the man's chin.

"C-commander Isao." I stuttered, a bit unhinged from the unexpected butt-smack. "Ah, thanks. I'm glad to be on this team." I scratched the back of my head. The wig was becoming uncontrollably irritating the longer I had it on.

"Please, call me Kondo. No need to be so formal around here!" He grinned at me. "We're all friends here. Er, for the most part anyway."

"Of course, Kondo-san." I muttered nervously. "I… hope to be a good asset to the Shinsemgumi!" I winked at him and raised my hand to my forehead in a salute.

"Man, I like you. You know how to respect your officers. Keep up the good work, Hachiro-chan!" He smacked me on the bottom once more and let out a hearty chuckle before leaving. I bit my lip, and watched as he strolled away. Being a guy was going to take some getting used to.

* * *

My shoes made the wooden boards creak as I walked up the stairs. Each step seemed to magnify its loudness to the extreme when I needed not to wake up the others. Just as I reached the top, I heard another pair of feet, angrily pounding up towards me.

"Ah, Otose-san." I bowed. "You must be here to collect the rent." She looked up at me and raised an eyebrow. I stared at her in confusion. "Is something wrong?"

"Why do you have a wig on?" She asked me. I realized I had forgotten to change at the headquarters, and was still in my disguise. I quickly pulled it off my head along with the wig cap, allowing my hair to fall down to my face in a wild manner.

"Oh, I was…hiding from someone. A … stalker ex-boyfriend." I stuttered. It was believable enough. She looked at me for a while, then the confusion in her eyes lessened and she shrugged. I let out a small sigh of relief and clenched the wig tightly in my hands. "Anyway, you must be here to collect the rent?"

"Yes, I am. That idiot Gin is late on this months _and_ last months. I'm sick and tired of waiting for him to pay. I need to make a living too, y'know!" She huffed and crossed her arms. I tilted my head in sympathy and put on my best puppy eyes.

"I know Gin-san can be irresponsible, Otose-san. But please try to understand it's hard for him to earn money with a job like this. That's why I've been taking up another job lately, to help him pay the bills. I promise as soon as I get my first paycheck, the money will go straight to you. You can count on me." I smiled softly at her. She stared at me for a moment, once again causing me to break a sweat on my forehead, but then she sighed and placed a hand on her forehead in disappointment.

"I guess I can wait another month. After all, it's not like he hasn't done worse before. I hope you don't disappoint me though, Han-san. Gin should know he's lucky to have someone as responsible as you around." I grinned, very relieved and replied,

"Oh, thank you so much! It's nothing really. I owe him for taking me in, the least I could do is help pay for the cost of the apartment. Thank you again, Otose-san. I won't disappoint you."

"Hmph. I'll see you around then, later." She called back, making her way back down the stairs. I waved her away and began slipping off my shoes. As soon as she turned the corner, I began slipping off the black robe and wrapped the wig inside of it. Holding the bundle in my arms, I then stepped inside the house, making sure not to wake anyone. Though, it wasn't like anyone would be awake at that hour.

* * *

Later that afternoon, we were all gathered in the center room once again, lazily wasting our day away. Shinpachi didn't have work since it was a Sunday, so we all were basically doing our best to keep ourselves occupied till the day was over.

"Gin-saaan." Kagura pouted.

"Don't start with me again, little girl. Go bother Han-san. She's better at dealing with little brats like you." He muttered, placing his magazine over his forehead. "Shinpachi, go get me a bottle of strawberry milk, would you?" Shinpachi looked away from the t.v. and stared at Gin disapprovingly.

"You should really get up and do things for yourself once and a while. I'm surprised you're still in shape, seeing as you barely move…ever."Shinpachi pushed up his glasses and resumed watching t.v.

"I'll get it for you, Gin-san." I sighed, standing up. I knew he'd keep nagging one of us until he got his milk. Kagura stuck her tongue out at Gin and stood up to follow me.

"Onee-san, we should go out and do something. I like having someone to do fun things with. It's so much better than hanging around those two dweebs." She reached for her bag of sukonbu on the counter and began to munch on it. I opened the fridge and pulled out Gin's last bottle of strawberry milk, and tossed it over to him. It landed with a plop on his stomach.

"Thanks." He waved at me, and popped the cap right off to drink. I nodded.

"Sure, Kagura-chan." I smiled at her. "Let's have a girls day out. Tonight. And we can invite Otae-san too." This pleased Kagura, and she ran to hug me, with the sukonbu still hanging out of her mouth.

"Yay! You're the best, onee-san! I'm so excited." I managed to barely make out her words with the food in her mouth. "We can go eat out at a restaurant, and pick fights with random people and…" I placed a hand on her forehead and laughed.

"What do you mean 'pick fights with people'?" I asked her.

"You, Otae-san and I are all strong. We could win no problem!" She looked up at me and grinned, her eyes squinting. "Maybe we could even get some money from it!" I tried my best not to laugh, and gave her a quick squeeze. She let go and looked at me, still waiting for approval.

"Ah, Sure, why not." I replied. I knew she'd forget about the whole fighting thing after eating anyway, so I agreed just for her happiness's sake. Sadaharu barked and ran over to us, wagging his tail as if excited aswell. He got up on two feet and chomped down onto my head. My smile turned into a frustrated frown, as I began prying off his jaws.

"Calm down, Sadaharu!" Kagura commanded. He whimpered and immediately released my head from his tight grip. Kagura walked over and began to pet his head softly. "You can't just go around chomping on Hannie-chan's head. We like her, don't we Sadaharu?" He barked playfully and licked her cheek. She giggled in amusement.

Suddenly there were three knocks on the door, and everyone in the room looked at each other. Even Sadaharu's head turned towards the door.

"…A...job?" Shinpachi questioned. Gin sat up from the couch and finished off his strawberry milk.

"Well, someone get it." He stared at us. I shut the refrigerator and walked over the front door. I slid it open, and much to my surprise I saw Shinpachi's sister standing outside. What a coincidence, now we wouldn't have to go pick her up. However, something in her eyes was different. She nodded at me quickly.

"I have a serious job for you guys." She stepped inside the apartment and brushed off her kimono.

"Well, what is it, sis?" Shinpachi asked her. She frowned, and her eyebrows became furrowed.

"Someone's been stealing my underwear."

* * *

**Hello everyone !~**

**I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter c: **

**Do you sense a little sougo x han bonnding time? cause I do ~~~ **

**Anyway as I've said before, i've only been watching Gintama for a few weeks and have barely gotten that far**

**So though i have a general idea of the characters personalities, there's still a lot I don't know about them**

**Please try to enjoy this fanfic anyway, because after all i am changing their personalities to fit with the story**

**I've made Sougo into this cute, infatuated boy that i'm just in love with right now *u***

**Anyway, please continue reading, and I'll see you all next chapter**

**Reviews are greaatly appreciated! **

**note: if you guys don't like the small additions of japanese , I apologize. I just feel that it sounds more natural to add in a little here and there. ^^**


	5. Chapter 5

"So, we all know he is said to only steal the underwear of attractive women," Gin paced back and forth at the front of the room, giving us what he called his 'before mission pep talk'. Although I didn't see what there was to be excited about; catching a pervert didn't seem like something we should've been proud of. A few of the Shinsengumi had agreed to help us with the case, so all of us were gathered at headquarters. "Now, I myself have received one." Gin stopped mid-sentence and looked down at his feet. A look of shame shot across his face and he continued, "But I will find this man, and hunt him down for thinking I have no luck with the ladies!" He stuck his fist in the air and his voice roared with determination. Everyone stared at him and Sougo even yawned. He wiped his eyes and pointed his finger at HIjikata.

"Hijikata got one too." He snickered. Hijikata spitefully smacked his hand away and crossed his arms, looking away from the rest of us.

"Whatever, that's not the reason why I'm here. I'm here because as a Shinsengumi, my job is to protect-"

"Anyway as I was saying," Gin interrupted. Hijikata scowled at him, then looked away from the rest of the group. He grinded the cigarette between his teeth in annoyance. "I was thinking we set up a trap for him."

"But what kind of trap would he fall for exactly?" Shinpachi asked, raising his hand. Gin looked over at him with a blank expression on his face

"I haven't exactly gotten that far with the plan yet…" He scratched his head. Kondo-san stood up from the wooden floor and raised his hand.

"Well, first we need a pair of cute underwear to lure him out." A few people looked at Kondo, cocking their heads a bit. Otae especially, looked at him with such disgust burning in her eyes. Kondo noticed her glaring at him, and hints of pink rose up in his cheeks. "B-but then we set booby traps around it, so we can catch him." He stuttered nervously. Hijikata looked at him, releasing a puff of grey smoke before he spoke.

"And then we can just sit and watch from somewhere, until we can ambush him."

"It's settled then." Gin clapped his hands together. "Our plan takes place tomorrow night," He looked in Shinpachi's direction. "at Shinpachi's dojo."

"Ehh? Why my dojo? Why does it have to be there?" Shinpachi flailed his arm. "Gin-san! We are not doing it at my house!" But everyone seemed to disregard him. He sighed and placed his face in his hands.

"It's alright, Shin-chan. As long as we catch that jerk, it'll be okay." His sister smiled, patting him on the back comfortingly. I let out a small laugh. The room fell quiet for a moment. Everyone looked at each other, as if all with the same question in mind.

"So… Who's panties do we use?" Kagura asked, twisting one finger in her ear.

* * *

I stood in the corner of the yard, gazing off into the distance. It was evening time the next day. Everyone around me was setting up the booby traps in preparation for the underwear thief's arrival. The Shinsengumi even brought over some land mines, which Shinpachi and Otae-san were helping to bury. Still, I couldn't bring myself to do anything, as hopeless as I felt. I wandered listlessly over to Otae-san, feeling like it was only appropriate for me to be speaking to a female. She looked up at me and wiped her forehead of sweat.

"Those are some cute undies you have, Han-chan." She grinned at me teasingly. Blood quickly rushed to my cheeks. I bit my lip in embarrassment.

"Hush, Otae-san. Please, it's embarrassing enough to see my own panties hanging off of there. No one else needs to know they're mine except you and the Yorozuya since they were the ones who stole it from me in the first place..."

"Well that only leaves the three Shinsengumi, doesn't it?" She cocked her head. I covered my eyes and shook my head.

"Still… It's better than having everybody knowing." I sighed, "This is so much more embarrassing than I thought. If I had known, I wouldn't have let them take it from me." I picked up the extra shovel beside her feet and reluctantly began hacking away at the dirt. Now that I thought about it, it seemed rather hazardous to be working with mines, especially in such a small area. "Otae-san… Don't you think the bombs are a bit much? I mean, we're only trying to catch an old pervert here. We don't want to kill him or anything, right?" I asked her. Otae ignored me and placed one finger delicately below her chin. She looked up at me.

"Wait a minute, Han-chan. You don't happen to _like_ one of the Shinsengumi, do you?" She said this with a smirk.

"Eh?" I looked up at her in disbelief. "I thought I told you already, Otae-san... I don't take kindly to people who work with the government." I kept digging. The hole was already beginning to get too deep, but I continued to shovel at it anyway, just to keep myself busy.

"Well they're not just 'the Shinsengumi'. They've each got personalities too, you know. I was talking about more of like a crush, Han-chan." She playfully elbowed me in the side. I scoffed at her remark and shook my head.

"A _crush_, Otae-san? Don't be ridiculous…" I laughed. "Are you saying Kondo-san is considered boyfriend material?" I shook my head at even the thought of that. "Otae-chan?" Suddenly, a grim expression befell her face as she kept her head low.

"No." She growled. "Don't even joke about that." I stood back in horror.

"I'm sorry, I was purely joking." I gently patted her shoulder, feeling myself shake a bit. She breathed heavily for a few moments, her shoulders raising and lowering with tenseness. But soon after, she looked up at me once again with a serene expression on her face.

"Well, alright I'll believe you for now. I wont tell anyone that—your panties are hanging off the balcony!" She shouted that last part out and covered her mouth, snickering. I felt my jaw drop open and let go of the shovel. Before I could sneak away to another hiding spot, I felt someone's hand touch my shoulder. I let out a small gasp. It was only Sougo.

"O-oh. Sougo-san. You scared me." I placed my hand on my chest.

"Those are yours?" He looked at me with a wide-eyed expression I could not read. Behind him stood Commander Kondo, with his arms crossed and a mischievous look in his eyes. Hijikata seemed un-amused, as he took a long drag from his cigarette.

"You betrayed me, Otae-chan." I huffed under my breath.

"Ah, don't worry Han-san. Although you do own some very cute underwear, Otae-san's is the only one I'm interested in." He chuckled. Clearly he did not realize how close of a distance she was away. Otae-san's head flicked up in response to his juvenile remark, and she clobbered him with one tough kick to the head.

As the night sky fell, we took our hiding spot behind the large bush that was planted in Shinpachi's back yard. A few hours into our stake-out, the thief finally arrived, and with the absolute determination to snatch away my underwear. The mystery was eventually solved, and the man was ambushed by the Shinsengumi along with Otae-san, after many failed attempts from the Yorozuya that resulted in the explosions of land mines. With no serious injuries, we were all glad the case was put to a rest. All of the women in Edo were able to sleep peacefully after that night. All but me, anyway. For some strange reason, I couldn't seem to wipe away the image of Sougo's face when he heard the panties belonged to me. It kept me tossing and turning till the next morning.

* * *

It had been exactly a month since I began training with the Shinsengumi. Today marked the day I was going to officially become one of them. Today meant I was finished with my training and done with always shadowing behind the other officers, for I was going to become a real Shinsengumi. Kondo-san promised me a large initiation party once I was to arrive at headquarters, despite what I said about not making things too flashy. As I stood in front of the mirror and slipped on my wig and the rest of my disguise, I couldn't help but feel like I was betraying myself a bit.

As I arrived, I immediately felt something was off in the atmosphere. "Hello? Is anyone in here?" I murmured, sliding open the main door. I slid off my shoes and waited for a bit, hoping someone would respond. But the entire place was quiet. I scratched my head and turned around. "I must have gotten the date wrong…" From behind me, I heard many doors slide open at once, and the sound of foots stomping out onto the ground.

"Surprise, Hachiro-san! Congratulations on becoming an official Shinsengumi!" They cheered. I smiled, and replied back,

"What's the point of a surprise when you already told me this was happening?" I laughed playfully. They threw handfuls of confetti into the air and some ran to hug me. I felt many hands rustle through my wig followed by remarks such as "_We knew you could do it!" _ and _"You were always a hard worker!" _I struggled to keep a calm face as my wig went sliding all around my head.

"Our young Hachiro is now an official… Shinsengumi." Kondo sniffled. I quickly pulled my wig back into place without anyone noticing and patted him roughly on the back in efforts to comfort him.

"Thank you, Kondo-san. I wouldn't have been able to do it without your help. I am very thankful." I continued to pat his back as he sobbed. He wiped his nose into some folded black cloth he was gripping tightly in a fist

"Ah, Kondo-san." Hijikata had strayed himself away from the crowd and now stood beside me. "Be careful of what you blow your nose into." He pointed at the cloth in Kondo-san's hand.

"Eh? What's this? Oh, shoot!" He quickly unfolded the cloth and grabbed it by its edges, then began rapidly flapping as if that would dry his tears away. I saw flashes of gold accents bordering the collar and a cravat tucked between the buttons. "Ah well, sorry for the mess, Hachiro-san." He apologized, "But I hereby present you with your official Shinsengumi uniform." Everyone in the room turned around and cheered, clinking their glasses together.

"To Hachiro-san!" They yelled, taking another sip of alcohol. They cheered some more and raised their arms, some of them already turning pink faced from the sake. I took the wrinkled uniform from Kondo's shaking arms and held it over myself.

"Thank you for this, everyone." I chuckled.

"Well, why don't you try it on now?" Kondo questioned, giving me a hard pat on the back. "Go on, let's see what you look like as one of us!" I looked at him for a moment, and scrunched my eyebrows.

"I, uh…"

"Well?" Hijikata asked. "Are you gonna put it on or what?" He held his cigarette between two fingers and turned his head to blow a puff of smoke into the air. When he looked back at me, I was shocked to see a crooked grin plastered across his face. For some reason, this brought a smile to my face as well. And it wasn't one of my fake Hachiro smirks, it was genuine.

"There's no place to change here, I'll just go home and clean it, and come to work tomorrow wearing my fresh new uniform." I said, smoothing out the wrinkles. It was actually a rather nice uniform. A bit on the flashy side, but dignified nonetheless.

"Don't be silly, we're all men. You can change here!" Kondo insisted. "I wont let you out of the headquarters until you have that uniform on!"

"Eh… but-"

"Everyone, Hachiro's putting his uniform on for the first time!" Kondo shouted, waving everyone over. The smile slowly disappeared from my face and I took a large gulp.

* * *

**Hello everyone!**

**Thank you so much for reading.**

**I hope you enjoy this chapter c: **

**I'm really beginning to get to the exciting parts of this fanfiction**

**I've got some really dramatic things coming up in the next couple chapters bwahhaha its gonna get so juicy**

**So I recently found out there's already another Hachiro in Gintama, and I'm so embarrassed that I didn't know before!**

**He's... very strange looking!**

**Anyway if you already knew that, please forget his face because this is another person completely! **

**Thank you for reading, you lovely people! **

**Reviews are greatly appreciated!~~**


	6. Chapter 6

I looked around the room and saw half of my comrades already drunk, then at Kondo, whose face was also pink, but only due to the tears streaming down his face. I sighed and replied,

"Okay Kondo-san. I'll put it on. But I'll do it in the hallway, changing in front of everyone feels a bit strange." I headed towards the door.

"Fine, fine. Hachiro's a bit shy everyone!" He shouted, "He'll come back from the hallway in a second wearing his… official uniform." He rubbed his eyes furiously and sniffled out the words. Though, no one was really listening at this point. It seemed that although they were happy for me in some aspect, they were mainly using me as an excuse to celebrate. By the looks of it, the sake was what brought out the most joy in them. I shut the door behind me, shutting out the sound of all the partying, and began stripping off my robe and undershirt. This left my bare body exposed to the chilly, lonesome hallway in nothing but my underwear, and the bandage wrapped tightly around my chest. I noticed I had grabbed the same pair of underwear used in the hunt the week before, absentmindedly of course, as I meant to burn them immediately after the investigation. Goosebumps ran up my arms as I slid into the vest and pulled it closed. After making sure that it was buttoned up tight, I began slipping on the slightly damp Shinsengumi jacket, and dropped the cravat and my pants to the floor.

"Oh shoot," I mumbled to myself, bending over to pick up the black trousers. I held them up to my waist, surprised to see they fit perfectly half way around. I wondered to myself how Kondo was able to guess my exact size. The distant sound of footsteps suddenly echoed through the hall and I flicked up my head in response. Sougo's feet came to a halt immediately. We looked at each other for a little while—until I began quickly fumbling to pull the trousers up. He held his sleeping mask in his hand and pulled it with a snap off the top of his head, all the while keeping his gaze on me.

"Did Kondo-san give you the uniform already? I woke up a bit late." He mumbled, tucking the mask into his pant pocket. I kept my head down, as I zipped the trousers and arranged the cravat neatly around my neck. I fluffed it, thinking of what to say next. I hoped he had not seen me. It was rather dark in the hallway after all. The only light source was that of a dim bulb built into the ceiling separating us two.

"It's alright, the party just started." I could see him cock his head slightly from the corner of my eye. "The uniform's a bit crinkled, though." I chuckled lightly, brushing out the wrinkles that had formed in place of Kondo's dried tears. He stepped towards me, his shoes being the only noise to wander the hall. Sougo grabbed my arm without hesitation and ran his hand up the spot in which Kondo's tears had soaked up.

"He cried, didn't he?" He said, tenderly dropping my arm. I struggled for a bit, to think of a proper response.

"You know how he can be sometimes."

"Let's join them, then, if you're finished."

"I am." I picked my robe up off the floor and wrapped it into my arm. The gentle touch of his fingers remained lingering and goosebumps ran up my arm.

"Hachiro-san." He said, with one hand on the door. I looked up at him. "Why are you changing in the hallway anyway?" He questioned. "There are rooms here, you know."

"I didn't want to go through the trouble." I answered smoothly.

He looked at me for a while, and soon disappeared into the main room where the rest of the celebration was taking place. I remained in the hallway with the robe tucked into my under arm, and could practically feel my heart rate rise rapidly. I eventually followed after him into the room, with my head held high and a gentle grin plastered on my face.

"Hachiro-chan! Look how well that suits you!" Kondo ran towards me with a tight embrace. The smell of alcohol lingered from his breath. It seemed he had also begun drinking.

"A bit scruffy." Hijikata muttered. By the tone of his voice, I could tell he was back to his old, bitter self, leaning nonchanlantly against a wall with a cigarette between his teeth.

"We're gonna drink till dawn in celebration!" Kondo hiccupped. "I say—" He hiccupped once more. "That we all take the day off!" Everyone in the room cheered, just as drunk as he.

"What time is it anyway?" I asked curiosly. My head flicked over to the clock hanging above the door. "Eh? Ten o-clock? Already?" I gently pried Kondo's arms off my sides.

"What? Where are you going?" He pouted. "The party's just started, Hachi-chan! It's for you after all!" He waved for me to come over, but lost his balance and fell to the ground. He groaned as Sougo began nudging him with his foot.

"I'm sorry, I've got somewhere I really need to e. Thank you all so much for the party!" I ran towards the door and quickly began slipping on my shoes. Just as I was ready to dash out, a hand reached for my shoulder. "Wha-" I turned around. Sougo stood in front of me with a big, eye squinting grin on his face, something I had never seen before.

"Congratulations on being an official Shinsengumi, Hachiro-chan." He patted my shoulder gently. I stood there gazing at him with a bewildered expression on my face before replying back,

"Ah…Thank you very much, Sougo-san." I smiled back. "Thank you for being such a great officer to all of us."

"Hmph." HIjikata stepped in front of us and scoffed. "Don't get all mushy. Now that you're not a trainee anymore, don't expect any sympathy from us if you screw up." His scathing words caused my forehead to crinkle a bit. He took his cigarette out and held it between his fingers, "But congrats, you made it through my training hell." I could've sworn I saw a smirk form at the corner of his mouth as he walked off. Kondo crawled over to us and patted my foot, as he couldn't seem to pull himself up off the ground.

"Don't mind Toushi. I'm sure he's extremely happy to have such a good guy like you on the force. I know I sure am." He rolled over onto the floor and his eyelids fell shut. My eyes darted back towards Sougo who looked at Kondo with disinterest in his eyes.

"Ah… Sougo-san. Please make sure he's alright. I really have to go." Sougo nodded at me and bent down to prod at Kondo's head. Kondo groaned, signaling to me that he was still alive. I strapped my shoes on tight and ran out the door.

I ripped off my wig once I was a good distance away from the headquarters and shoved it under my shirt. I unraveled my hair from the net, and slipped the black robe over the top of my uniform, since I wasn't going to have the chance to change. Once finally back at the house, I made sure no part of the shinsengumi outfit was peeking through my robe before opening the door.

"Where have you been, Hannie-chan?" Kagura's voice startled me just as I took my first steps into the house. Her hair resembled a matted, orange birds nest. Even as she ran her hand through it, I could see every finger getting entangled within its knots. Crusty eye boogers surrounded her eyes and she had a groggy expression on her face. I could tell she hadn't been up for long.

"Yeah, where have you been?" Another voice called from the living room. Gin stumbled over to us with an even worse hairdo and let out a long yawn. "You've been gone every morning to go somewhere." He stretched up his long arms. I was surprised. I thought had made sure to come back every single day before either of them woke up, but perhaps I hadn't been careful enough. I scratched at the lump on my stomach where the wig lay, as it was getting to be quite itchy. "And what's up with that robe? You look like a man." He narrowed his eyes at me.

"I've been busy…" I started "Actually Gin-san, I'm uh… I'm going to be away for a few hours in the morning from now on."

"For what?" He asked half heartedly.

"Well, you see… I got another job somewhere else, so I'm afraid can't be here during the day anymore." He cocked his head as I continued to explain. "But once I get back in the evening, I'll be glad to help out with the yorozuya the best I can. And on my days off too."

"Huh," He snorted. "Well how long are you gonna be gone for?" He asked. "You do know most of the jobs we get are during the day. Barely anyone comes in the evening time." Kagura nodded and got up from the ground. Since she clearly wasn't a part of this discussion, she lugged herself towards the bathroom. I could hear the squeaking of the rusty faucet and the sound of running water.

"Sometime in the evening." I said. "It's a full time job, and we don't take shifts. But we do have days off. I can be here to help then." I said hopefully. He only glanced back with a skeptic look and shook his head before speaking.

"If you're gonna be gone for that long," He turned towards the bathroom, "You might as well live somewhere else. We don't need someone mooching off of us who's not even going to help out. Where's the toothpaste?"

"It's right there, Gin-chan."

"Anyway Han-san , we've barely got enough money for the three of us to get by as it is. We don't need you here if you're not even going to work anymore."

"But I am working! I said I'd help in the evening when I got back. And plus, I'll share with you guys the money I'm getting from my other job too. I won't need to accept your money anymore."

"Then you pay the rent this month." I could hear the sound of the bristles brushing against his teeth.

"Ah… Well actually I haven't gotten paid yet." There was a long silence from him as he spit into the sink and rinsed his mouth before walking back out.

"You've been gone every morning for over a month. How could you not have gotten paid? What is this job anyway?"

"Just a job around the city." I swiveled on one ankle. I really just wanted the conversation to end so I could change out of the uniform and robe and into something more comfortable.

"What job?" He asked, a little more intrigued. "You're not a hostess or something, are you?"

"No, no nothing like that." I stammered.

"So, what? You don't have a job after all?" I stared at him uncertainly. I could feel a shift in his mood as he spoke. "You're lying, aren't you? You just don't want to work at all." I shook my head but he continued before I had the chance to argue back, "Move out. We don't need, nor want you here anymore. In fact I never did from the start. It'd be better for all of us if you just left." I could feel a burning sensation forming in the corners of my eyes, but I constrained them the best I could. My lips were pressed tightly together and a lump had formed in the back of my throat. Kagura came wandering quietly out from the bathroom and stood a fair distance away from Gin. By the look in her eyes, I knew she could feel the tension building in the room between us. She cautiously approached him, extending out her arm.

"Gin-chan… What are you saying? Of course we want Han-chan here…" Her voice sounded small and unsure.

"No, I only took her in because you forced me to, and she needed a place to stay. But now she's just taking advantage of us, and I no longer have a reason to house her here." He left the room abruptly and went into the kitchen to find something to eat. The fact that he could still think of food made my stomach churn and my chest hurt. Just then, Shinpachi slid the door open behind me.

"Hello everyone!" He greeted painfully cheery. He stepped next to me and put his hand on my shoulder as he slipped off his shoes. "Han-san? What's going on? Why isn't anyone saying anything?" Kagura let out a little whimper.

"Shinpachi." Her bottom lip quivered as she called his name. I nudged his hand off my shoulder and gently pushed past him, heading for the bedroom. My hands shook rapidly as I struggled to slide the door shut. My insides felt weak and brittle, as if someone had hit me square in the gut with an iron fist. I fell to the floor on my knees and began wiping my eyes rapidly with the robe sleeve until they were raw. It felt like hours that I sat there in the same position at the corner of the room. Even with my amanto strength I couldn't find the energy to pick myself up off the ground. Never before had I ever felt such an overpowering sense of grief in my chest. It was hard for me to understand why his words had hurt me so much. Gin was the only person who had ever been able to bring out such strong feeling in me, and I supposed that was the exact reason why I didn't want to leave them. Finally, when the sun began lowering down in the sky and an orange light shined through my window, I began to pack all my belongings into one bag. I did not cry nor say a word to anyone that evening as I embraced the winter snow, in regret and cold discomfort, and left the Yorozuya.

* * *

**Hello hello my lovely readers!~**

**I hope you guys enjoy this chapter**

**Sorry I wasn't updating as much as I normally was**

**I wrote this chapter a few times before I was finally satisfied with it**

**I actually think it turned out rather well.**

**This was such a fun chapter to write!~**

**It breaks my heart to have to make Gin be like that, but all in all, it makes for a good story : D**

**Thank you so much for reading! Please continue to , so you can see what happens to Han-chan and where she'll end up ;u;**

**Reviews on each chapter are greatly appreciated!~ **


	7. Chapter 7

With one hand holding the bag over my shoulder and the other on the thin door, I knocked on the wooden frame and took a step back. Within a few minutes I heard the sound of feet approaching the main room, and Kondo slid open the door. His face was back to its normal color and despite his tousled hair and wrinkled clothing, he looked to be sobered up.

"Hachiro-san! What are you doing here? You should've stayed earlier, the party was great." He greeted me. The smell of sake still lingered in his breath, but he seemed to be in a clear enough state of mind to talk properly. I found it to be quite ironic that my own party had been celebrated without me and let out a little scoff.

"Sorry," I muttered. "Anyway, I came here to ask you something." I took a deep breath. He looked at me with one eyebrow raised and a soft smile on his face.

"What?"

"Well.. if you'd allow it, I'd like to move in here with the rest of the Shinsengumi."

"What?" He repeated

"Does… that mean I can't?" I asked, taking a step back.

"No, no! That's not it at all! Of course, we'd be glad to take you under our wing!" He wrapped an arm around my neck and into a headlock before I could squirm away. His noogie was rough on my head , but the only thing I could feel was his knuckles twisting the wig around.

"Really? Wow, thanks Kondo-san. It means a lot that you'd let me stay here. I promise to work very hard-"

"Enough with the proper talk!" He interrupted, letting me go. "Sheesh, even the other guys weren't like you when they first started. Learn to loosen up a bit, eh!" He slapped my bottom and let out a hearty chuckle. "No worries though, you'll grow to be like the rest of us in no time."

"Sorry." I mumbled. "Well, I've already gotten my things packed, so I'd be glad if you could to show me to my room." I picked up my bag and raised it to show him. It was actually quite small. I had wrapped the remainder of my female clothes and hidden them behind a dumpster before I took off. All that was left of my belongings were a few robes I had picked up during my past month as "Hachiro" and some small essentials such as my bandages and other little things.

"Great, great. Well we haven't got any extra rooms at the moment, but you're free to stay in mine! I'm barely in there anyway, except at night, so you'll have lots of time to yourself. I know how you're shy and all." He smacked me on the shoulder. I stared at him and scratched the back of my neck.

"Thank you Kondo…-san." The word sounded too improper in my mouth.

"Well come in!" He beckoned. I slid off my boots and pushed them neatly aside with my foot. Then I proceeded to follow him into the back where all the rooms were. I had never been that far into headquarters before, so everything I saw was new to my eyes. I could see the shadows of the other members moving around in their room through the paper walls. A familiar silhouette grew larger as it approached the door to my right.

"Who is that walking around so loudly?" He grumbled, stepping outside the room. "Ah, Hachiro-san? What are you doing here?" Sougo was out of his shinsengumi uniform and instead wearing a white robe along with a pair of forest green pants. It was the first I'd seen any of the Shinsengumi out of uniform. It was odd, but sort of reassuring at the same time. It was nice to see even they were relaxed when off duty.

"Ah, Sougo! Hachi-chan here has decided to move in with us." Kondo grinned proudly. I grimaced at his nick name for me. I was younger than him, but I certainly was not eight. *

"Yo, Sougo-san." I waved sheepishly. It was part of my new image as a full time boy to say things like that. As stupid as I sounded, I decided I was going to re-invent myself now that I was no longer with the Yorozuya. I didn't have to worry about coming home and changing disguises anymore. I was now Hachiro twentyfour-seven, regardless of whether or not I wanted to. And now that I was taking a step closer and living with the Shinsengumi, I had to be especially careful about my character, so they wouldn't get suspicious.

"Uh, yo." He looked at me quizzically. I furrowed my brows in discomfort. Okay, no more of that.

"Come on, Hachi-chan! Let's get you unpacked before it gets dark." Kondo grabbed my arm and urged me onwards. I nodded and followed after him.

"Ah, wait a minute. I thought we were out of unoccupied rooms, Kondo-san. Where is he staying?" Sougo looked back and forth between the two of us. My head turned to Kondo.

"Kondo-san's allowing me to stay with him in his room." I uttered. Regardless of whether I was a girl or not, it still somehow felt awkward to be sharing a room with Kondo. He was just the type of guy to make you uncomfortable in situations that involved spending a lot of time around him. Sougo stared at the both of us and tilted his head.

"You can stay with me, Hachiro-san." He offered.

"Eh?" Kondo stopped walking and leaned on the wall with one hand scratching his head. "Why with you?"

"Well, no reason. I just thought it'd be awkward for the new guy to have to share a room with our commander that's all. "

"Cheh! Don't be silly." He scoffed in disbelief. "Hachi and I are good buddies already, aren't we?" He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and patted me. Kondo seemed to have been touching me an awful lot since I became an official shinsengumi. I chuckled nervously as I wiggled away from his arms.

"Please call me by my name…" I muttered, ironically enough.

"Well it's up to you. Where do you wanna stay, Hachi-chan?" Kondo seemed to have disregard my comment. I sighed and decided unfortunately that the nickname had already stuck.

"I don't mind, I'm just very thankful to be here, so whichever is less convenient is fine with me. I could even stay in a closet if you'd like." I joked halfheartedly. The two of them only stared back at me. I knew Shinpachi would've atleast chuckled at my joke, even if out of sympathy. I already missed them an awful lot.

"Stay with me then." Sougo blurted out. I looked up and saw Kondo look at him as well. There was a short silence before any of us said anything.

"Well, sure. Thanks, Sougo-san." I smiled big. I made an effort to tug my mouth more to one side so it could eventually become my signature crooked grin. However, instead I only felt uncomfortable as I noticed Kondo giving me a bizarre look as if something was the matter with my face. I looked down sheepishly at my feet. Hachiro's personality seemed to be getting progressively more embarrassing.

"Sure." He replied. For some reason he sounded a bit distant as he said this.

"Well… I was really looking forward to rooming with you, but if this is what you want…" Kondo began to sniffle. I dropped my bag and patted him gently on the back.

"We can party any time you'd like, Kondo-san." I reassured him, letting out a small chuckle. "Please don't cry now and ruin more of my clothes."

"Sorry, sorry." He sputtered, wiping away his nose. "You two have fun then… without me. I'll be in my own room." He then nodded at us and once and began ambling away down the hall. I watched him walk away with a small grin forming on my face. Though he could be an idiot at times, it was nice to have someone like him around to relieve all the stress from work and such throughout the day.

"Come inside and unpack your things then." Sougo motioned me to go inside. I nodded hesitantly and dropped my bag once stepping foot in the room.

"Actually I haven't got much. I don't want to take up your space so I'll just leave my belongings in my bag." I sat myself down to the futon and stretched out my tired muscles. "This is actually quite nice." I said, gazing out to the garden. It seemed he had left his back door wide open and the cool breeze of evening time blew in. I inhaled the chilled air into my lungs and exhaled softly. I liked this season the most out of my entire time on Earth, because it was the closest thing to cold my body could handle without reacting badly. In fact, it felt quite relaxing, something I'd never quite been able to feel before on my own planet.

"I'll go get you another futon." He said, leaving the room. I started to offer to get it myself, but he left before I could finish. I sighed and shook my head as I lay myself back down. The knots in my back unraveled themselves as I stretched out comfortably on the floor. I let out a little sigh as I turned over onto my stomach. The room was quiet, the only noise was that of the last few cicadas wandering listlessly outside before the summer season was going to disappear for another year. I slid one hand beneath the pillow and nuzzled my cheek comfortably on top. Sougo returned to the room shortly, but by then I was already half asleep. "Hachiro-san?" He asked. I didn't reply. I saw him crouch down beside me as my eyelids began to droop.

"Yes." My voice came out almost a whisper. The smell of his pillow was somehow comforting, a bit warm and the slightest hint of musk. The blankets were nice and thick, and cushioned me well from the hard wood floor. Hearing my own breathing even out to a steady pace and Sougo's face blur out of my vision, I felt myself slowly falling into a light sleep. Soon enough I was unconscious before Sougo had the chance to switch our beds.

* * *

"_Onee-san!" I yelled, my voice lost throughout the gunshots and screams. _

"_Keep going, I'm right here." She held my arm tightly and urged me to keep running. Tears streamed down my face as we ran past the rubble that was our town, and the bodies of the pour souls who couldn't make it out quick enough. "You'll be okay. Shh," She murmured comfortingly, stroking my hair gently as we hid under the remains of an old restaurant. "Stay quiet, Han-chan." I stuffed my face into her chest and suppressed my tears as best as I could. My tiny body shook in fear. _

"_Onee-san…" I whispered. _

"_What is it?" _

"_Thank you for taking care of me." I murmured. "When I'm older, you have to do it alone anymore. We can take care of each other." I clenched her shirt tightly in my small, child-like palm and breathed quietly. She smiled and held me close to her body, resting her chin on the top of my head. We stayed like this for a while, until I heard the sound of crunching rubble that sent shivers up my spine. My head flicked around and towering above us stood a familiar, silver haired man wearing a dirtied yukata. "Gin-san?" I questioned, my voice sounding small. _

"_What makes you think you can support your sister when you can't even support yourself now?" He yelled at me. "What makes you think that? You lying little leech!"_

I woke up in a cold sweat and my heart felt as if it were pumping out of my chest. I placed one hand on my forehead and took a few deep breaths to calm myself down. _It was just a dream._ I looked around the room, surrounded in complete darkness. I blinked a couple times to let my eyes adjust and soon the room was moonlit just enough for me to be able to move about. Sougo was laying on his back with his arms across his chest and I couldn't tell whether or not he was asleep. I stood up from the ground and gazed at him for a while.

"Please stop moving around." His voice surprised me, as he pulled off his sleeping mask.

"You're awake?" I asked. "What time is it?"

"It's three a.m."

"Oh. I'm sorry, I didn't realize I was making so much noise."

"I think you were having a nightmare. You were tossing and turning a lot."

"I'm sorry." I apologized again.

"Are you alright now?"

"I'm fine. Just need some fresh air and I'll be fine." I stood up from the floor and carefully made my way towards the back door, making sure not to run into anything. Upon contact, I felt the night air kiss my skin, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I remained outside anyway and quietly slid the door shut behind me. I sat myself down on the wooden steps and rested my chin in the palm of my hand. It was a full moon out, which illuminated the entire night sky beautifully. Already I began to feel my body shaking from the cold. I tucked my arms back into the robe and gazed at the moon for a while, until I began losing feeling in my cheeks.

"Sheesh, I can hear you shivering from in there." I turned around. "Get inside, you'll get sick."

"No," I shook my head, now gazing back at the moon. "I'll only bother you. I've still got a lot on my mind, I wont be able to sleep anyway."

"Ahh…" He slid the door shut behind me and sat down on the wooden steps too. "I guess we can talk about it if it'll get you to go to sleep." I shook my head lightly and turned to face him.

"Guys like me don't like to talk about things very much." I replied.

"Well sure, guys hate talking."

"And it's not something I can talk with you about anyway." My voice sounded out of place being surrounded by the quiet night.

"Look, I just want you to be able to sleep so I can sleep." He replied. I said nothing and instead turned to look away from him. I heard him let out a little sigh. "Did you get kicked out of your last home or something?" He asked me.

"What?" I asked, "What makes you say that?"

"Is it cause you wear women's underwear? They kicked you out cause you were a freak huh?"

"No! That's not it!" I shouted a bit too loud. "Wait… You saw that?" My voice sounded panicked, while his tone was completely calm.

"Well yeah, you were half naked in the hallway after all. Of course I saw it. Learn to be more careful next time if you're going to wear stuff like that though. No one wants to see that kind of stuff, Hachiro-san." He shook his head.

"I-I must've grabbed my sister's by accident, and it was too late by the time I realized." I stuttered, suddenly alarmed.

"Okay, whatever you say." He replied knowingly.

"Listen, Sougo-san, I'd really appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone about this." I crinkled my forehead in worry and grabbed his shoulder. "Please, I'm new here. I don't need the reputation of being the pervert who wears women underwear when I've only just joined the Shinsengumi." I shook it gently.

"I don't know…" He put one finger up to his lip and looked up at the sky teasingly.

"Sougo-san! Please!" I whispered harshly. A part of me was relieved he hadn't suspected anything, but at the same time I was worried for my reputation here . After all, I was going to be living there from now on. I didn't need this strange fetish to stick with me throughout the entire time.

"We'll see." I frowned

"Sougo-san…"

"It depends on whether I like you or not." He said, sounding rather serious. I let go of his shoulder and dropped my hand back down to my side.

"Tsk… Fine. Damn sadist." I said.

"Yeah." He replied back. A small smile began to tug at the corners of my mouth, and I looked away.

* * *

*** Hachi means eight in Japanese. Hence the joke with Hachiro's nickname, because he's younger than Kondo and considered the new, young rookie.**

**Hello hello!~**

**Thank you so much for reading. **

**I've been plotting for this chapter for quite a while, and I'm glad to say I think it turned out pretty well**

**Not very much happens, but I figured if I added more, the chapter would be too long**

**There's a lot of dialogue to make up for it anyway so I hope you don't mind.**

**Anyway, I hope you guys like the story so far**

**I'm really trying to show how Han-chan's changing since she left the Yorozuya**

**Now that she's full time Hachiro and on her own, of course she's got to have a personality change.**

**Well, I hope that you continue to read and see how this all ends up, and to continue to see the little romance between her and the Shinsengumi**

**Thanks again for reading,**

**Reviews are greatly appreciated, and very helpful! ~**


	8. Chapter 8

Winter was nearing , as it entered into my second month as an official Shinsengumi. Sougo , HIjikata and I were doing our usual patrolling around Edo, and though I was keeping a keen eye out, I was not expecting much to go on. The past few weeks had been rather calm in the city, other than a few small street crimes here and there. Katsura had been keeping his presence on the down-low since the last bomb I accidentally set off had caused quite a huge uproar. HIjikata didn't seem to be expecting anything interesting to happen either, he stopped us at the local dango shop and ordered himself a stick, and asked the owner for a bottle of mayonnaise to accompany it. "I'd like one too, please." I raised my hand. I had a few dollars left from what I had saved up, and my paycheck would be coming in soon later that week anyway. He handed Sougo and I each a stick and we left our money on the table to join Hijikata on the benches outside. Sougo waited for me to sit down before he did. I couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable, with both of my officers on either sides of me. Though, I had actually grown quite fond of Sougo since I began living with the Shinsengumi, and Hijikata seemed to have loosened a bit since I first began. He wasn't scolding as much as he did before, and it seemed a little easier to be around him nowadays. I took a gaze across the street as I bit off a piece of the sweet rice. I watched as a familiar orange haired girl punched a tall man in a white yukata, square in the shoulder. I swallowed the dango after a few chews and squinted my eyes in efforts to see more clearly. The sun gleamed off the brown haired boy's glasses, and then I was sure it was them.

"Gin-chan, I'm bored. I miss Han-chan." Kagura pouted. Gin swatted her away as he ordered himself a chocolate parfait from the girl across the counter.

"I wonder where she is. I haven't seen her around the city at all lately." Shinpachi sighed. "Do you think she's alright? She probably left Edo after being kicked out to find work somewhere else, huh." Kagura frowned and crossed her arms.

"No, she wouldn't leave me without saying goodbye. I bet she's still in town, you're just too blind to see her." She let out a sassy scoff. Shinpachi argued back,

"What are you talking about? I have my glasses on all the time, and even if I didn't, I'm not blind or anything!" They quarreled about this for a bit before Gin turned around and smacked them both on the head.

"You guys are ruining the taste of my beautiful parfait." He growled, eating a scoop. "Let's go." The two let out a huff and stopped their arguing. They followed after him obediently. I was glad to hear that Shinpachi and Kagura were still thinking of me, even now. But somehow I found it difficult to get out of my mind that Gin did not even bother to address my name. He was somehow able to ignore them and still eat his sweet dessert in glee. Though I supposed it should not have been much of a surprise to me. He said it himself that he never wanted me there in the first place. It was only natural that he'd want to forget about me as soon as possible. I sighed and took another bite from my stick.

"And stop talking about her. It pisses me off." I heard him mutter bitterly. Suddenly I felt the stick slip from my opened fist and land softly in the dirt.

"What's wrong?" Hijikata raised an eyebrow at me. "Was it too hot or something?" He joked. I shook my head and looked down towards the floor where I had dropped it.

"Sorry," I picked it up and tossed it into the trash nearby. Sougo watched intently as I sat myself back down.

"Here, let me buy you another one." Hijikata shoved the last piece of mayonnaise covered dango into his mouth and swallowed hard before standing up.

"Whoa, why's the vice-commander being so nice today?" Sougo asked, cocking his head. "How about I buy you both a stick. That way it'll increase the chances of Hijikata hopefully choking on one." He stood up from the bench as well.

"I'm not 'being nice'. He dropped his and I happen to have a few yen to spare, so I figured I'd just get him another one."

"Sounds like being nice to me." Sougo volleyed back. "Really, it's okay Hijikata. Save that for when you need medical attention or something, after you choke on your dango." It amazed me how he said this all with a straight face. I began to wonder perhaps whether or not he was joking anymore.

"Relax, how old do you think I am?" I scoffed, already holding a new stick of dango in my hands. I unfolded the money tucked in my pocket and handed it to the store owner. He smiled gently at me and nodded a thanks. "I am perfectly capable of buying my own food." The two looked at each other for a moment and sat down.

"I don't know. Fifteen maybe?" Sougo put a finger to his lip. I frowned spitefully at his joke.

"Yeah, sixteen at most. You look pretty scrawny to me. Have you even hit puberty yet?" Hijikata joined in sarcastically. Only a moment ago they were quarrelling and yet now I had somehow become the target of their teasing. I narrowed my eyes at the two of them and stepped up behind the wooden chair placed beside the table. I flicked it using only my thumb and middle finger, but it was enough strength to send it flying through the street and smashing into the dessert store across the way. The two of them along with the store owner stared at me in awe and silence as I pretended to blow the smoke off my fingers.

"I'm nineteen." I returned to my seat between them and let my arms dangle off the back of the bench. They both looked at me with wide eyes and scooted towards the ends of the bench.

"Oi oi, you can't just go around destroying public property like that! You're a Shinsengumi now!" Hijikata barked.

"Who's going to pay for that chair?" The owner's wife suddenly came out from the kitchen after hearing all the noise, and waddled over to the entrance of the shop. Sje placed her hands worriedly on the sides of her face.

"Sumimasen." Sougo apologized. I turned to look at him. "Hijkata-san seemed to have gotten too worked up over his dropped dango and hurled the chair across the street in a fit of anger. He will take care of it. He says he's got money to spare anyway, isn't that right, Hijikata?" He smiled devilishly at him. Hijikata's eyes immediately narrowed to a squint but before he could open his mouth to say anything, the woman screamed,

"How dare you destroy my chair like that! Just what type of officer are you? Aren't the Shinsnengumi supposed to be protecting Edo, not destroying it! I demand compensation this instant, or I'll report you to the higher ups!" She pointed her finger at his face and wagged it around. His jaw dropped open in amazement.

"But, you just—he was the one who—"

"Enough with the excuses! Are you going to pay or what!" Hijikata sighed heavily and placed his hand on his forehead. He stood up from the bench and walked back into the shop and asked the owner how much he owed for the broken chair. Sougo and I looked at each other for a moment, his face seemed calm, and yet somehow satisfied with the fact that he had gotten Hijikata into trouble. I gave him a look of disbelief and we both ran before HIjikata could see us escape.

* * *

We managed to finish patrol duty that day without running into any more trouble. Hijikata eventually caught up to us to complain, but Sougo consequently began denying everything and acted as if none of it had even happened.

Everyone made it back to headquarters safely with our jobs all finished , but by then the sky was already pitch black out. The sun seemed to be setting much earlier than during summer, now that we were nearing winter. Sougo was waiting outside the door of our room, as I hastily changed into my robe and sleeping clothes. He didn't bother to ask any questions when I asked, because he already knew I was shy about that sort of thing.

"Are you done yet?" He asked me. I tied the robe tightly and brushed myself off.

"I'm done." He slid open the door and stepped inside, I was surprised to see following behind him was Kondo.

"Ah, Kondo-san." I smiled. "What are you doing here?" I saw a bottle of sake in his hand. He noticed me looking and raised it up higher.

"I thought we might all have a little drink. I feel like I never really got to bond with either of you." He sat himself down in the middle of the room and unscrewed the cap. "Especially you, Hachiro-chan. You left the party early last time, so I figured we could pick it up right now." He laughed and patted the floor beside him for us to sit. Sougo and I looked at each other before both taking a seat.

"Do you really think it'd be a good idea to get drunk here, Kondo-san?" I asked apprehensively.

"Nonsense!" He shook his head. "It's only one bottle for the three of us. That's not enough to get us drunk." I raised an doubtful eyebrow at him.

"I'm actually a really light drinker. I can't handle much alcohol… and when I do, I end up sputtering all types of nonsense and I pass out, eventually. I wouldn't want you to have to deal with that, Sougo-san."

"What do you mean, do you pour out your deepest darkest secrets or something like that?" Kondo teased jokingly. "If I had known, I would've brought even more sake!"

"I don't know, I just start saying random things on my mind I suppose. Atleast, that's what people tell me."

"Ahh, I was kidding. Don't worry, Hachi-chan! Trust me, you'll be fine. This is just for fun, after all." His face pleaded me to join in, and I just couldn't bear to say no. In the end, we all began to drink.

* * *

"And no matter how hard I try," _Hiccup. _"She still calls me a stalker and refuses to love me back." _Hiccup._ I wasn't quite sure how many gulps of sake he drank exactly, but I knew it couldn't have been that many, for the bottle still felt atleast half full. I nodded understandingly at him as he spoke and patted him roughly on the shoulder. "It'll be alright, Kondo-s…Kondo-san." I could feel my body swaying back and forth as I talked, "We'll all find love eventually. I mean, if animals can find their perfect mate, how could we not?" I felt my head roll from shoulder to shoulder.

"I guess you're right. You know, you're a good friend, Hachi-chan." He ruffled my hair and tears began streaming out of his eyes. He wiped them immediately and stood up shakily. "I think I better… be getting back to my own room now. It's getting late…" I watched nervously as his wobbly knees tried to carry him towards the door. I pushed myself up off the ground and immediately waddled over to help him out. Sougo watched us two drunkards in curiosity as we struggled to escape the room.

"K-Kondo-san. Let me walk you to your room…" My eyes fluttered as I said this and I grabbed ahold of his shoulders to keep myself from falling.

"Thanks." He nodded, fumbling to slide open the door. It took a while before he was finally able to pry it open, and he wiped his forehead in exhaustion. "I don't remember these doors being so hard to operate…" Before he could even take a single step out of the room, he fell face first onto the hard wooden floor. I gasped and kneeled down, grabbing his arm.

"Kondo-san! Get up! Are you alright?" Hijikata's door slid open from across the hallway and he stared at us in horror.

"What's wrong with Kondo?" His voice boomed. "What happened in there?" He demanded.

"Apparently those two don't have a very good stomach for drinking." Sougo muttered, as he watched from the doorway.

"Damn it..." He pushed me aside gently and pulled Kondo's limp body up off of the ground. "I'll take him back to his room. Sougo you take care of the kid."

"I am not a—" _Hiccup. _"—kid!" But my eyes began to blur, and he and Kondo began to fade out of my vision. I suddenly felt myself fall backwards, before a pair of warm, strong arms caught me. Gently he carried me back into our room and shut the door with his foot. He lay me down on the futon and pulled the blanket out from beneath my mangled body. "Sougo-san… I want a parfait. A chocolate parfait." I muttered hazily. He pulled the blanket over my shoulders and tucked it in surprisingly delicately around the frame of my body. I smiled at him as my eyes began to fall shut. "Sougo-san. I like…" _Hiccup._ "I mean, I think I really like…" But before I could finish what I was saying, I was already asleep. I don't remember exactly what I was trying to say to finish the sentence, but I had a feeling both of us were equally as curious.

* * *

**Hello hello my lovely readers!~  
****I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it**

**Ah, the things the shinsengumi get into. **

**I hope I'm still able to keep your guys' interest as you read this**

**Im trying my best to build up the suspense so you'll have NO idea how this will end !~**

**Hopefully you'll continue on reading, though.**

**Thank you so so so much for stopping by and sticking with the story**

**Look forward to the next chapter!~**

**Reviews are greatly appreciated!~**


	9. Chapter 9

"It's rather chilly." I said, rubbing my shoulders in attempts to warm them up. My favorite time of the year, Autumn, had come to an unfortunate end, and Edo was now entering into its winter season.

"It's not that bad." Sougo replied, re-adjusting himself more comfortably on the tree branch. "Atleast we're not down there training." Morning practice had started a little over two hours ago, but both of us decided we didn't feel like listening to Hijikata scream out orders, especially not in weather like this. Sougo was the one who suggested we camp out in the tree for a while, since it was unlikely Hijikata would go through the trouble of looking for us up there. I was apprehensive at first, but after realizing how long I'd have to be swinging around that wooden stick for, ditching didn't sound like such a bad idea. Besides, Shinsengumi practice never did anything to benefit me. The strength of humans couldn't compare to mines, regardless of how much training they received. Plus, Sougo had been in the Shinsengumi for so long, I was sure that missing one day couldn't hurt. And it seemed to be something he did quite often, anyway, even as an officer. I stretched myself out across the thick branch and put my hands behind my head. I leaned back on them and shut my eyes, exhaling the frosty air surrounding us.

"Yeah, it's nice to get a break from all of Hijikata's barking and what not." I chuckled sarcastically.

"If only we could get a break from him forever." Sougo replied back. I could hear a hint of dreaminess in his voice, and he had an odd, serene expression his eyes. I looked at him quizzically and dropped my head back down.

"Why do you dislike him so much anyway, Sougo-san?" I asked, "It doesn't seem like he yells at you very much. Most of it goes to people like me, or others who are part of the lower divisions." The wind seemed to be picking up quite a bit; though luckily my wig was only short enough to blow around just the perimeters of my face, and not get in my eyes. Sougo didn't reply for a while, and all I could hear was the sound of tree's rustling leaves. I stretched my head to look up at him, and saw he had one hand on his knee and his head was turned away from me.

"I have my reasons..." His voice trailed off. "He's just… always been the one to take everything away from me. And not only that, but he's just an asshole in general. A big-headed, worthless, cigarette scented, mayonnaise eating asshole." He picked at the tree's bark until a small chunk came off, and watched it as it fell down below. I said nothing in reply. But he didn't seem to have anything left to say either. So all this time, he was serious when he said he hated Hijikata. I could now feel a genuine discomfort omitting itself from Sougo as he spoke; I was actually surprised I never noticed it before whenever he talked about Hijikata. Sougo picked off another piece of bark and shifted it around in his hand. "So," He said, clenching his fists, "Ah… What made you join the Shinsengumi anyway?" I could tell he was done talking about the topic. I actually felt a bit guilty I had brought it up in the first place. I turned my head to face towards headquarters.

"I had another job before this, somewhere else." I said. He turned to look at me as I spoke. "I was planning on staying there for a quite a while, but I guess the status quo changed and I ended up working here." I, too, sat myself up to face him. "Actually, a few months ago, I couldn't even imagine myself working at a place like this. I guess now that I'm here though, it hasn't been too bad."

"'Hasn't been too bad'?" He questioned, "In the end you still got to meet me, didn't you?" I wasn't sure whether or not he was joking around; he always had such a straight face, it was hard to tell when he was serious or not. I smiled anyway and punched him jokingly in the shoulder, glad that he was back to his normal self.

"You're not too bad of a friend I guess." I laughed. "I suppose it's nice to have someone to buy me dango and take care of me when I'm drunk."

"Ah-" My smile quickly faded away, as I saw Sougo stagger for a moment, and slip off the side of the branch. In an instant, I quickly snatched his hand before he could hit the ground, and gripped it tightly in my own. I let out a sigh of relief and I pulled him back up safely into the tree. I made absolute sure he was balanced before letting go of his hand. Hints of pink rose up in my cheeks and I rubbed my palms off onto my black pants. He sat dazed for a moment and dropped his hands slowly back into his lap. "S-Sorry about that…" I muttered embarrassed. I could feel my cheeks get warm. "I…guess training does do something for me." I tried to joke, but I couldn't bear to meet eyes with him. I couldn't believe my own recklessness. If I hadn't been able to catch him, I would've been responsible for him getting seriously injured. I shook my head in frustration, keeping my head low. Suddenly I felt his hands come up from beneath my chin as he lifted my face up to meet his.

"S-sougo…san?" I questioned, a bit startled. Our faces were so close together that I could practically feel his breath on my upper lip. Shivers ran up my spine as he pulled me nearer. His usual bright, wide eyes were narrowing and slowly falling shut the closer we got. My body froze in its place and I let him continue to pull me even closer until our noses were touching. His mouth opened slightly and he leaned himself into me. I held my breath in anticipation and could feel my heart beating up into my throat.

"Sougo! Hachiro! Where the hell are you two?" Suddenly a voice broke through the tension between us and my head flickered towards the ground. I recognized the voice, it was Hijikata, and he sounded furious. "I know you two are slacking around here somewhere. Missing practice, tsk. How irresponsible." He was pacing around below us and had a cigarette in his hand. Sougo slowly dropped his hand from my chin. He stood up and looked at me for a moment, before climbing back down from the tree. I remained sitting.

"Ah, sorry, I guess I fell asleep in the tree. You could've handled morning practice without me though, couldn't you?" He patted Hijikata casually on the back and began walking towards headquarters.

"Oi, where's the other guy?" Hijikata growled. "Was he with you?" Sougo stopped walking and turned around.

"Who? Hachi-chan? Nope. Haven't seen him all morning."

After I was sure both of them left, I slowly crawled my way back down to the ground. For the rest of the day , I didn't see Sougo anywhere. However, I could still feel his breath lingering on my lips.

* * *

That evening, I received my first official paycheck. Kondo proudly handed it over to me, almost getting teary eyed again. I was beginning to think he was getting a bit too emotional when it came to my job, which I found a bit odd. I went straight to Edo Bank after I finished my shift and cashed it out, and soon I was on my way to the Yorozuya.

I was covered up in a maroon colored robe with a black strap tied across my waist, and a thick, knitted scarf from my sister wrapped tightly around my neck. My feet shuffled along the sidewalk as I dragged myself across town in the frigidly cold weather. I couldn't get my arms to stop shivering. When I finally made it to the apartments, I pried open the door of the bar and quickly threw myself into the warmth. Otose watched as I ripped off my scarf and lay face down onto the counter.

"What are you doing here?" She raised an eyebrow at me. Catherine set down the glass she was drying and came over to greet me aswell.

"You look awful. Is the weather that bad outside?" She muttered. I looked up at both of them and smiled weakly.

"Nice to see you too, Otose-san. Catherine-san." I sat myself upright to face them and took in a deep breath, exhaling all the cold air that had filled into my lungs. Once I regained feeling back into my hands, I began pulling my wallet out from my robe pocket. "I don't know if Gin's paid yet, but he probably hasn't. So here's the rent for the past 3 months." I said, handing Otose the wad of money. She continued to stare at me with an odd, disapproving look, while Catherine just scoffed at me and walked away to clean the rest of the cups.

"I thought you had moved out." She said, eyeing the money. "Usually people who move out don't have to pay rent anymore, yknow."

"I know." I said. "But I told you I'd pay, so here it is." I shook the money gently at her, and she slowly took it from my shivering hands.

"Well I don't care, as long as I'm paid." She tucked it into the pocket of her kimono. "So where do you live nowadays anyway?" She asked me.

"Oh , just at a friends place."

"So why'd you live here in the first place then?"

"Kagura-chan asked me to. I thought it might be good to catch up with her for a bit before I left, but I've got my own place now so there's no need for me to be here anymore." Catherine came out with three drinks in her hand and slid one of them over to me. I thanked her with a nod and gulped it down. The alcohol burned in the back of my throat, but it felt good. It warmed me up.

"You shouldn't still have to be watching out for that lazy bum Gin anymore, if you were only staying here temporarily." Otose said, taking a sip.

"I know that. I'm not watching out for him, really. But I owe him for the few months that I did stay there. And besides, don't you remember? I promised you too, that I'd pay the rent once I got my first paycheck." Catherine raised the bottle, offering me some more, and I slid the glass over to her.

"Aish," Otose sighed at me. "I've said this before, but Gin doesn't know how lucky he is to have someone like you around. But just so you know, you don't have to keep paying for them anymore. It'd be stupid to keep paying for an apartment you don't even live in. And I know I don't charge cheap."

"You're still paying for those brats?" Catherine asked, shaking the bottle in her hand as she spoke. "Tch! How stupid. If I were you, I'd be saving up that money to buy myself something nice, like a new kimono or something. Don't you know robes like that are for men? How do you expect yourself to find a boyfriend if you keep going around dressed like that? Are you some sort of cross dresser?"

"Oh shut up, let the girl do what she wants." Otose snapped. "Leaves more men for us anyway" She scoffed. I smiled at her and shook my head.

"Don't worry about me, Catherine-chan. I don't really have time for that anyway." I hiccupped. I could already feel the alcohol getting to me. "And even if I did dress more 'nicely', I'm just not the type of girl who's able to get a man that easily. It's not really my thing." Catherine put the bottle back on the counter and crossed her arms at me.

"Well… You're not _hideous_. I'm sure you could get a guy if you tried." She placed one hand below her chin. "Otose-san and I could give you a makeover or something. With our expertise help, I'm sure you could land yourself a decent enough guy."

I shook my head again, the smile now disappeared from my face. "Really, I'm no good with that sort of thing. And it's not like I need a boyfriend, I'm fine the way I am right now."

"You say that now but you're sure gonna regret it when you're old and lonely like Catherine." Otose said, sympathetically.

"What did you say you old hag? I could get a million guys before this poor thing could get a single date!" She raised her fist in anger. I pushed myself up off from the counter, suddenly irritated for some strange reason.

"Anyway, thanks for the drinks, my business here is done, so I guess I'll be getting home now." I grabbed my scarf and wrapped it tightly around my neck. Upon standing up, I felt all my blood suddenly rush out from my head. I became quite lightheaded. In that moment, my body didn't seem to want to go anywhere but bed. "I'll see you two around." I waved. A familiar dizzy feeling took over as I stumbled my way towards the door.

"Geez, I didn't mean for you to get all offended." Catherine remarked bitterly. I ignored her in spite, and walked out the door.

"Be careful on your way home." Otose yelled after me, but I had already shut the door, cutting off her voice.

* * *

I didn't know how I did it, but I managed to make it back to Headquarters in one piece, as sleepy as I was. I just wanted to get to bed and sleep this long day off, and so I headed straight towards Sougo's thankfully without running into anyone. I slid open the door, expecting him to be in there. But much to my surprise, it was empty. All I saw were our two futons laying across the floor.

"Where could he be…" I mumbled to myself, half awake. It was dark out, so he had to have been done with work already. I shrugged and decided I couldn't wait for him, as I was already beginning to lose consciousness. I threw my scarf into the corner of the room and plopped down onto the futon, cuddling warmly into the blankets. As tired as I was, my brain refused to let me sleep. It was aching from all the thoughts that were jumbled up in my head, about that morning with Sougo. Why did he do that? He couldn't possibly have meant to kiss me, right? I mean, we were both 'guys' after all. Unless he knew that I was really a girl, but how? I had been doing such a good job of keeping my identity a secret all those weeks… I suddenly realized I had taken off my wig when I went to go visit Otose and Catherine. With all the energy I had left, I crawled over to my bag and grabbed the first hat I could find. I stuffed all of my hair into it and pulled it tight to my head, making sure nothing was visible. Once comfortably back in bed, I also began thinking about what Catherine had said, and wondered to myself why it had bothered me so much. I was never one to have an interest in guys, and I typically wouldn't have taken something like that so offensively. Perhaps it was just the alcohol causing my temper to act up. That was the only explanation that made sense. I turned around on the futon and pulled the blankets up past my shoulders, slowly shutting my eyes.

Regardless of how many blankets I had piled on top of me, and clothes layered on my body, a night had never felt so cold without Sougo there.

* * *

**Hello everyone!~**

**Here's Chapter 9 c: I really hope you enjoy it**

**I have a few new readers, so I'd really like to thank you for favoriting and following along with this story,**

**it means so much to me that people like reading my writing! **

**I feel like I'm beginning to write a bit more vaguely when it comes to what goes on in Han's head,**

**Sort of because I want you to have to interpret her feelings for yourself.**

**I just think it's more fun that you develop your own opinions and theories about how she feels, so that in the end you're either glad / or suprised by what happens!**

**well, I'll see you all next chapter then!~**

**Reveiws are really really appreciated ! :) **


	10. Chapter 10

The next morning was my day off. I got up early and put on my usual robe attire complete with my boots and a white sash. However, since I was planning on visiting the Yorozuya later in the afternoon, I left my wig in my bag, hidden of course, and pulled over a hat instead. That way I could hide my hair until I got away from headquarters and neither parties would suspect a thing.

I realized Sougo had come back sometime in the middle of the night, because when I woke up, he was passed out across the floor with his jacket tossed toward the corner of the room. I nudged him back into his futon and piled a few blankets on top of him so he wouldn't catch a cold while he was sleeping. I searched his uniform and pulled out his sleeping mask that he always kept in the front pocket, and gently pulled it over his eyes making sure not to wake him. He began mumbling something in his sleep as I did so. I knew he wouldn't be able to sleep without it once the sun began to show.

It was too early for anyone to be up besides myself at headquarters, so I managed to make it out the door without anyone questioning where I was headed off to.

* * *

Before going to visit the Yorozuya, I made a stop at the market where I had bought my wig and bandages. Shinpachi didn't seem to be working that day, instead a blonde, petite sized girl was standing at the register by herself. The store was pretty empty as I would expect that early in the morning. I made my way towards the produce section to the left of the store and picked out a few things I thought Kagura would enjoy, and some basic household ingredients in case Shinpachi or Gin decided they wanted to cook themselves a real meal. I threw them all into my red basket and paid the girl with the money I had left over from my last paycheck. She was nice, but sort of quiet. She wasn't sure whether to call me mister or ma'am and so I just thanked her before she embarrassed herself any more and left.

I couldn't manage to keep the plastic bags from rustling, as my arms were shaking too much from being in the cold for too long. Before knocking on the door to the apartment, I pulled the beanie off my head and finger-combed my hair to tame it down a little. It was strange to feel my real hair brush along my back; I had gotten so used to it being out of my face whether it be I wore a wig or a hat. I took the bags all into my left hand and knocked gently on the frame of the door with my right. I could hear a bit of arguing inside before Shinpachi came to answer the door.

"Ah, it's not a job. Hello Han-san. Long time no see." He grinned brightly at me. I slid off my boots and raised the bag of groceries.

"I bought you guys some stuff from the market. I hope you don't mind me coming in for it a bit." He stepped aside for me to enter. I wobbled myself into the warmth of the apartment and let out a sigh of relief as the heated room brought color back into my cheeks and feeling back into my arms and legs.

"Hannie-chaaan!" Kagura raced towards me with a hug. She stuck her face into the plastic bags and gasped. "You brought us food!" I smiled and threw the snacks one by one at her. She caught them all with ease and accuracy.

"I thought you might like a break from snacking on popsicles, especially now that the weather outside is freezing." She was too busy already stuffing her face to hear me. "I bought some staple ingredients for you guys too, Gin, Shinpachi." I began to make my way towards the refrigerator to put the food away, but stopped myself, midway. I didn't live there anymore. I should not have been rummaging through their cabinets.

Gin's eyes didn't move from his JUMP magazine.

"Thanks, Han-san. I'll take those." Shinpachi muttered nervously. He grabbed the bag from my hands and headed into the kitchen. I remained standing by the door.

"Hi Gin-chan."

"Why are you here?" He asked. He did not bother to look up at me as he spoke. Since it was winter time now, he had his yukata pulled up properly with both arms in it. I thought it made him look a little more mature. But nothing could pair with his natural-perm hair and look one hundred percent adult.

"Just to visit." I answered

"Thanks for the food."

"No problem." I swiveled on one ankle and pulled my robe sleeve tightly over my wrists. "So Shinpachi," I started, "I heard Otsuu-chan's having a concert here next Wednesday. Can I expect you to be there?" I looked over at him putting away the rest of the food. He shut the refrigerator door and brushed off his hands. He gave me a serious and yet playful expression and replied,

"What kind of Otsuu-chan-cheering-fan-club-officer would I be if I weren't?"

"You're so lame." Kagura muttered. Crumbs stuck to every crevice of her pale skin.

"I was thinking of going too." I said

"Really? Maybe you could help us cheer her on." Shinpachi gleamed. "Though, of course I can't deem you an official part of the team without the proper uniform and training."

"Wait, I want to hang out with you too, onee-san!" Kagura had managed to finish off the last of the food I bought her already. It seemed I hadn't bought nearly enough.

"We never did get to have that girls night out with Otae-san." I said, turning to look at her. Shinpachi seemed to have gotten used to Kagura interrupting him already and so he just stood there and listened intently. "When do you want to do that?"

"I don't know." She gathered up the wrappers and shoved them under the rag carpet. It left an obvious lump of trash but she didn't seem to care.

"Han-san." Gin said suddenly. My head flickered towards him. Shinpachi and Kagura went quiet. "You should stop coming here."

"What?"

"Stop coming here. The only people who should be here are the ones who live in this apartment and people looking to hire us for jobs."

"I can't visit my friends?" I asked in disbelief

"We're not friends." He put the magazine and looked at me with an intense glare in his eyes.

"What _is_ it about me that bothers you so much, Gin-san?"

"I already said before that you weren't welcome here."

Kagura stood up from her spot with her eyes wide and her mouth a straight line. Shinpachi looked as if he wanted to say something too, but remained silent.

"I didn't realize you meant I was banned even from saying hello."

"Well you are."

"Sorry," I said "to have intruded on such a busy morning then." I turned towards the door and grabbed my shoes quickly. I didn't think I had enough strength inside me to put them on while in the same room with him, knowing he'd be watching.

"Wait, Han-chan!" Kagura busted out. She ran over to me and hugged my waist tightly. "Don't leave yet!"

"Kagura…" Shinpachi whispered harshly. He grabbed her arms and unraveled them from my sides. She struggled to get out of his grasp and wrapped her fist tightly around my robe sleeve. I stopped with one hand on the door and my head held low.

"I hate when you and Gin-chan fight! Come back to live with us already!"

"Kagura, let go of her." Gin hissed.

"No!" She cried. But her hand slowly slipped from my sleeve and she let Shinpachi pull her away from me. I didn't say anything, and walked out the door without my shoes on. I stumbled down the stairs with my boots in my hand and could feel the cold seeping into my feet. I pulled out my hat from the pocket of my robe and tucked my long, ebony hair into it. Then I sat myself down in front of Otose's bar and slid on my shoes, making sure to tie them so tight it hurt. The walk back to headquarters was cold and numb. I felt I had lost all feeling on the outside, but inside I was hurting.

* * *

It was still early by the time I got back, but most of the officers were already up due to force of habit from working so many days of the year. Kondo was the first to approach me as soon as I entered the main room, with Hijikata following closely behind him.

"Hachi-chan! Great news!" Kondo grinned. I looked up at him, forcing my voice to sound a little enthusiastic. I knew he'd question why I seemed so down if I didn't.

"What is it?" I asked him.

"Get ready to hear this," He said, "Really, are you ready to hear it? I don't think you're ready, Hachi-chan. Get ready to hear some great news!"

"Oh would you just tell him already." Hijikata scowled. Kondo closed his eyes and waved away at Hijikata.

"Sorry, sorry, just a little excited is all." He grabbed me by both shoulders and shook me gently. "You're getting a promotion!"

"W-what?" I asked in disbelief. "Really?"

"That's right!" He hugged me tight and lifted me in the air. I squirmed to get out of his grip but he was too strong. I was stuck. "You're movin' on up to second division captain!"

"But, I thought Nagakura-san was-"

"Nope, his wife's having her baby in a few weeks so he's taking a leave, and I decided why not let you have his spot for the time being!" He put me down and I took a few deep breaths.

"Wow that's… That's fantastic news!" I smiled softly. "Thank you so much, Kondo-san." I decided since he had brought such wonderful news to me after such an awful morning, I'd go at it and return his hug. I patted him on the back and let go quickly.

"Looks like you're doing pretty good for yourself, considering you started not so long ago as a rookie." Hijikata smirked. I was surprised at his somewhat of a decently nice praise. I decided why not and gave him a hug as well. I flung myself onto him and said with my face stuffed into his shoulder,

"Thank you for being tough on me, Hijikata-san. You sure are a pain in the butt, but I guess that's what got me to where I am now."

He took the hug by surprised and patted me awkwardly on the back. "Get off."

I laughed and unwrapped myself from him. Suddenly I felt something tug at the inside of my robe. My chest area felt loosened up and a long bandage slid down the front of my stomach . I gasped and quickly crossed my arms across my chest. Hijikata had felt something too, because he had an odd gaze in his eyes. "What was-"

"I have to go to… the bathroom! I'll be right back." I hurriedly made my way back to Sougo's room and slid the door shut.

Once doing so, I slid the shoulders off of my robe and let it dangle off at my waist. I pulled my undershirt over my head and unstuck the metal clip that had caught onto it, holding it in my mouth. My bandages fell to the floor, into a small bundle. I shook my shirt, looking for the second clip. It fell to the floor making a small panging noise and I picked it up in relief. I began wrapping the bandage around my chest again, making sure to make it tighter than before.

The door slid open behind me. "Ah—Hachiro-san—"

"Sougo-san!" I crossed my arms over my chest and quickly pulled the robe sleeves back on. Thank god I was faced away from the door.

"Sorry I didn't realize you were in here."

"No it's my fault... I was just… bandaging up by back."

"What for?" He asked me, stepping inside the room.

"I've got back ache issues."

"That bandage shouldn't be used for back pains. It wont help."

"Err… I know that. I'll run down to the store and get proper bandaging right now." I tied the robe as tight as I could around my waist and looked down at my feet as I made my way towards the door.

"I know you're a girl."

"What?" I stopped and looked up at him.

"You don't have to keep lying to me. I know you bind, and wear a wig."

"What? S-sougo-san… Don't be silly—" He pulled my hat off, letting my long black hair fall to my face. I gasped and he tilted his head at me.

"You might've been able to pass as a guy like this. Katsura-san has hair just like you."

"Are … you going to tell them?"

"No." He said.

"Hachiro-chaaaan! Are you alright in there? Why did you run off in the middle of my congrats?" Kondo's voice came calling for me from the hallway. Sougo and I both looked at the door, then back at each other. He tossed me back the beanie.

"You better go."

"But…" I started

"We can talk later." He said. "Go ahead and bandage up. I'll talk to Kondo in the meanwhile." He left the room

* * *

I was already in bed by the time Sougo came in, this time properly dressed in his sleeping robes instead of passing out in his uniform like the night before. But the atmosphere felt different; There was tenseness in the air as he sat down beside me in his own futon.

"Do you want me to turn off the light?" He asked me.

"Sure." He got up from the floor and flicked off the switch before returning to his bed.

"So Sougo-san…" I started. He lay himself down and put his two hands behind his head. I did the same. "How did you find out?"

"I didn't know at first. I just thought you were a really feminine guy when I first saw you."

"Well, then what gave me away exactly?"

"Do you remember when you first got your uniform, and you were trying it on in the hallway like a pervert?"

"Err, yes." I mumbled.

"I recognized your underwear from that night we did the underwear thief investigation."

"Oh…" I remembered thinking about that.

"But, I just thought you were related or something. You really just look like the guy version of yourself with a wig on. I should've realized though, no siblings look that much alike."

I blushed thinking about the fact that he had remembered what my panties looked like. Good thing we couldn't see each other's faces in the dark. I think it would've been awkward for both of us.

"You've always been pretty girly too. Way too girly to be a guy, so I was always sort of questioning why that was so from the start."

I remained quiet.

"And the way you never let people see you change, it was just all too obvious. Plus I found your wig hanging out of your luggage a few times. What happened earlier today just sort of secured my suspicions on it though."

"I never left my wig out!" I said

"Okay I guess I did do a _little_ bit of snooping around in your things."

"Sougo-san!"

"And the gunshot wound too. I saw it on your shoulder today when you had your robe off."

"What gunshot wound?" I asked. He sat up to face me and reached his hand over to my shoulder. He slowly pushed the sleeve of my robe down and ran his finger along the scar.

"I accidentally shot you across the arm that one day. I remember it." He pulled the robe back up and dropped his hand. I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Everytime he touched me , I felt something cold, and anxious well up inside my body. I turned away from him and nuzzled softly into my blankets.

"How do you still remember a thing like that?" I mumbled, with my mouth half under the sheets. There was silence in the room for a moment. Then I felt him pull his futon closer to mine as he reached one arm over my body and rested his forehead on the back of my head. He pulled me in tightly, pressing his legs to the back of mine.

"I've never really known what it's like to want to protect someone before." He spoke softly into my ear, as I lay there paralyzed by his touch. "My whole life has just been spent keeping myself away from people. I don't want to lose anyone else to Hijikata anymore." His voice began to get quieter. "That's why I like you." The way he spoke was so gentle it made made me feel like I could just melt into his arms right then and there, and he kept his warm head still, nuzzled into my neck. "You disliked him too. I knew you wouldn't leave me for him."

"S…Sougo-san." I could barely find the energy to speak.

"At first I questioned myself. I actually began thinking I could've been gay. But it was strange, that the only 'guy' I'd ever been attracted to , was you. Even once I realized you were a girl and not a boy, I still wasn't to be at ease. I wanted to make you mine, and claim you for myself only. On so many occasions I just wanted to show you how much I cared about you, but I knew what was at risk. I didn't want you to lose your job, so I kept quiet until maybe you decided to tell me yourself." His body was still, and his hand lay motionless on the floor in front of me.

"Sougo-san…" I reached for his hand with the arm that was draped over me. He squeezed it tightly.

"Yes?" He whispered.

"I don't know… I just… No one's ever… I-I..."

"Just let me protect you," He murmured. "From everything that's out there to hurt you. I've only ever wanted to cause pain to others, but with you… Just let me keep you safe." He lifted his head up and rested his cheek upon mine. For a while, we both just lay there and listened to each other breathe in the darkness.

"What if… I end up being the one to hurt you… Sougo-san?" I asked. I felt a knot form in the back of my throat, and I could say no more. The room went silent again and I could feel his chest against my back as he breathed in and out deeply. He said nothing, and his hand slowly released its grip on mine. "Sougo-san?" I swallowed down the choking feeling and my voice came out only a slight whisper. I turned my head slowly to face him, and felt his cheek gently slip off of mine. His head slowly rolled back to his own pillow. I took his arm that was wrapped around me, and placed it delicately by his side, making sure not to wake him. Then I pulled his blankets up past his shoulders and gently pushed his half open mouth shut so his mouth wouldn't be dry in the morning.

I sat there watching him all night. The only noise in the entire room was that of his nose inhaling and exhaling softly. Near five o'clock when the first few birds began to chirp, I felt myself finally begin to lose consciousness. That night, I was not cold nor warm as I slept, and I did not dream of anything.

* * *

**Hello hello!~**

**Ah I realize this chapter is a big longer than usual, I hope you guys don't mind though**

**because it's mostly dialogue anyway,**

**plus I couldn't wait to get this chapter out.**

**It just wouldn't have been right if I hadn't included it in**

**Ohohoho the story's getting interesting now , isn't it!~**

**I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, it was probably the most fun to write yet!**

**Not that I didn't enjoy writing the rest of it.**

**Well I hope you guys will stick along to see how this story progresses,**

**Reviews are greatly appreciated!~ **


	11. Chapter 11

The Shinsengumi was holding a charity cooking day for the citizens of Edo to raise money for renovations to new buildings being built throughout the city. I personally didn't see the need for any more buildings in this crowded town, but I had no choice but to go along with it. We began setting up our booth early morning; It was late enough that the sky was lit up from the sun, but early enough for there still to be a dark overcast hanging beneath the shop canopy. Hijikata was helping to set up the wooden stand we would be selling our food from. It was stationed in front of a local restaurant we had rented out for the day, which was the kitchen where the actual food was going to be cooked. He waved me over with a cigarette in his mouth and strained to pick up a wide plank of wood, just big enough to be a counter top.

"Gimme a hand." He said through gritted teeth. He had no problem lifting up his own side, and waited for me to pick up mine. I delicately slid my hand beneath the piece of wood and lifted up using the strength of two fingers. I had been too careless in showing my strength before, so I pretended the plank was a bit too heavy and made a fake grunting noise.

"Well no wonder you're having trouble. Use both hands, put some effort into it, wont you." He grunted. I quickly grabbed the piece of wood with both my hands and let out a fake sigh of relief.

"Yeah this is much easier." Together we carried the plank to the base that Kondo had just finished building earlier that morning, and placed it neatly on top to cover the remaining side. We adjusted the plank until it was perfectly aligned. Hijikata patted off his hands and took the cigarette out of his mouth.

"Great. Now we've just got to make the sign. Why don't you grab a few pieces of wood and a couple nails and a hammer, and bring 'em over to me. I'll teach you how I want you to make it." He pointed me towards the stack of materials and I obeyed. I picked out a long thin piece of wood for the sign itself and two pole-like pieces to support it on the counter. I grabbed a handful of nails and tucked the hammer into the crevice of my arm. I carefully maneuvered my way back over to him, making sure not to drop anything and threw the materials onto the grass in front of Hijikata.

"Okay, so just hammer the two poles to the end of this plank and attach it through the holes on the base and make sure everything is nailed in tight. Shouldn't be too hard. I'm gonna go see if Kondo needs any help in the kitchen. Make sure to finish soon, the event starts in two hours and we need everything set up so we can get ready. I'll be back in a few minutes to check up on you." He took a drag from his cigarette and looked down at me, crouched on the floor. I nodded at him and gave him an optimistic thumbs up.

"I got it, Hijikata-san." He let out a scoff and went back into the kitchen. The materials were sprawled across the floor, ready for me to use. Truth was though, I had no idea what the strange, sharp metal pieces were. And what was this stick with a heavy steel thing on the end? I had picked up the names for the tools while overhearing a few of the other officers asking where they were, but I had absolutely no idea how to operate with them. I picked up the 'hammer' in one hand and swung it around a bit. It seemed the front part was much heavier than the wooden handle. The nails had a flat top and I figured since the hammer did as well that they had something to do with one another. Perhaps the heavy one was used to hit the nails into the wood? I dragged over the piece of wood using my leg and placed the nail onto the surface of the clean, untouched plank. Then I cautiously lifted the hammer up and slammed it down onto the nail. The edge of the plank splintered off into many small pieces and a long crack ran down the center of it. It seemed the nail hadn't stayed upright where I put it, and the hammer had missed. I frowned. The crackling sound echoed throughout the quiet morning street and a few heads flickered up to see where the noise had come from. I laughed nervously and stood up to get another piece from the pile, making sure to avoid eye contact with the other officers. I sat myself down on the floor again, with the plank and hammer between my outstretched legs. I tried again, this time making sure to hold the nail in place, hoping to actually hit it this time. I held the nail at its base and raised my right hand once again, and slammed it down onto the nail. The nail certainly wasn't in the wood. My finger throbbed and suddenly a feeling of heat and pain surged from my finger all throughout my hand. I withdrew my hand in pain and shook it around hoping to shake the pain away. "Ow ow ow." I cried quietly to myself. I pressed my fingers up against my mouth and breathed in deeply for a moment. The pain was slowly beginning to drain out and I slowly lowered my hand.

"You haven't even started? What _are_ you doing, Hachiro-san?" Hijikata's voice asked, causing my momentary few seconds of pain to slip out of my mind. I looked up at him and he had one eyebrow raised. "Don't tell me you don't even know how to nail two simple piece of wood together." He chuckled jokingly. I blinked at him cluelessly before he understood. His expression changed. He looked surprised at first, then a smirk slowly found its way across his face and he bent down to crouch beside me. "You really don't know?" I shook my head and raised my arms in defense.

"No no, don't be silly. Heh, who doesn't know how to use a hammer and nails? Simple stuff…" I looked down nervously at the splintered piece of wood I had created and sighed quietly.

"You sure are useless." He clicked his tongue. But he didn't seem angry. He got behind me and grabbed the hammer from my hands. "Here, let me show you." His hand reached across me over to the pile of nails and he grabbed one. He was draped over me with one hand over each shoulder, sort of like a boyfriend would do to his girlfriend. I looked at him quizzically but he didn't seem to realize the position we were in. Instead his eyes were focused on the board in front of me. "See, you hold it in the middle like this, closer to the bottom of it I suppose. Then you make sure it's in the spot you want, and hit it lightly with the hammer first to ensure it goes in straight." He raised the hammer using only the slightest flick of his wrist and hit the nail gently. I could see the pointy end of it go a little into the wood. He nodded, pleasingly and turned to look at me. Our faces were only a few centimeters apart. Now he seemed to have realized just how close we were, because his expression changed. His usually narrow eyes widened in surprise, like a deer caught in headlights. But soon his eyebrows lowered. He looked away from me and focused his eyes on the plank again. "Now… You hit it again. A little harder." He demonstrated for me, still with his arms around me. "And now that the nails is in for sure, you can hit it," He did, "And let go. See? Now its stuck. All you've got to do is hit it with the hammer until it goes all the way through." He slowly reached over and grabbed one of the support pieces for the sign. "Put this underneath it so you actually have something to nail together." He lifted the plank and placed the other piece of wood beneath it. "Here, you try now." He pushed against me gently with the hammer still in his hands. I sat there for a moment without saying anything, then turned my head to look at him. I scratched my head casually and said,

"What are you doing, Hijikata-san? I can do it myself. I'm not twelve." I grinned nervously and gently pushed his arms away from me. He looked taken aback and quickly withdrew his hands back to his sides. A look of embarrassment suddenly befell his face and he just stood there, staring at his hands. He handed me the tools and stood up, with one hand in his pocket and the other resting on his chin, with the cigarette between two fingers. "Thanks," I pulled the tools toward me, not taking my eyes off of him. He nodded.

"Uh…Yeah." He looked back at me. "Hurry up. We need to finish."

I nodded and turned back to look in front of me. I carefully raised the hammer, mimicking his movements and hit the nail into the wood. "Ahh-!" I snatched my left hand back in pain and balled it tightly into a fist. I hadn't been careful and made the mistake of leaving my left hand spread out around the nail to keep the pieces of wood in place. My lack of accuracy with the hammer and carelessness of hand placement had caused me to once again injure myself. I pressed my balled up hand tightly into my chest with my right and rolled back and forth for a bit, trying to endure the pain.

"Pff…" The sound of constrained laughter came from behind me. I released my fist for a moment and looked up at Hijikata with a frown on my face. He had one arm covering his mouth and his eyes were narrow from holding in a laugh. I could tell he was trying not to make it obvious, but it clearly was. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." He waved his hands in apology. He chuckled and said with an almost serious face, "You're just so…" He stopped for a moment and looked away as if in deep thought. His eyebrows came down in the middle and for the first time I saw him bite his lip. He was trying not to laugh. It seemed he was trying to think of the right word to use. But before he could finish, I stood up and brushed myself off.

"I don't wanna hear it." I sighed. He turned back at me and his mouth opened slightly. Then his eyes came back to their usual squint and his lips became a straight line.

"Sorry." He said. "It's just…" He looked up at me. In a way it almost seemed as if he was being…shy. I stared blankly at him as he spoke and he began to stutter. "Anyway," he cleared his throat, "just go help Kondo out in the kitchen. I'll finish up here." He knelt down and grabbed the materials to finish making the sign. I stood above him for a moment, with one hand thoughtfully scratching the side of my neck. Then, I turned away and headed for the kitchen.

"Okay. I'll see what I can do." And I waved him off.

* * *

As things turned out, Kondo was one second away from burning the entire kitchen down before I walked in. I quickly grabbed the pan from his hands and shut off the stove, patting him gently on the shoulder in a sigh of relief when the fire quickly extinguished. I told him I'd take care of things, and as Commander he should be out there advertising and not hiding in the kitchen. He thanked me and seemed rather relieved as he quickly ran out of the shop.

Orders began coming in immediately during the opening of the event. People had gathered around the stand, wondering what all the commotion was about, and why so many of the Shinsengumi were at this one restaurant. Hijikata proudly mounted the sign up on the booth that read "Shinsengumi, COOKING FOR CHARITY EVENT" in bold, black and gold lettering to match our uniforms.

As more and more orders began coming in, I found myself coming to the same dilemma I had faced the last time I cooked in a kitchen. The heat of the stove was cooking the food just too slowly, and the plates weren't getting out to the customers in time. Sougo was constantly rushing in and out of the kitchen to ask me to prepare another batch of croquette, and there never seemed to be enough.

"Hachiro-san! We need another tray, we're almost out." He called from behind the curtain.

"Alright! Give me five minutes. Come back in five minutes and I'll have … three trays ready!" I replied. He peeked in through the cloth separating the kitchen from the rest of the restaurant and cocked his head dubiously at me.

I could hear him behind me. I waved one hand in the air at him. "Go on, trust me." I said, not taking my eyes off the stove. I waited until I could hear the sound of his feet skittering away before turning back around. I smiled to myself as I turned back to the pan. "I guess this couldn't hurt…" I heated up my palm and hovered it over the top of the bread-crumb-covered potato cake, making sure to keep the flame small. This way I could cook both sides of the croquette at the same time and cut my cooking time in half. I finished an entire tray in less than 2 minutes and moved onto the next, each time increasing my speed. Soon I had five trays laid out beside each other on the table behind me. Sougo came in.

"Hach-" He looked at the trays and then back up at me. He seemed pleased. He stacked them carefully across his arms and gave me a small smile before leaving. Once he was gone, I lifted one leg up in glee and returned to the stove to cook some more.

The number of customers continued to increase as we got further into the afternoon. Though with my new cooking method I didn't particularly have trouble keeping up with the orders. Sougo had decided to switch shifts with Yamazaki halfway through the day, who was sitting at the stand with Hijikata and Kondo. This meant I had to be extra careful about not using my own fire whenever Yamazaki would come into pick up more trays. Things were going good so far, as I began to notice a pattern in Yamazaki's behavior. He would come in and pick up two trays at a time, (he could only carry two in each arm), and then he'd leave me alone for about ten minutes before coming in to pick up two more, and each time before he'd come rushing in, he'd call out, "Hachiro-san! Two more!" from the shop entrance to warn me. This made it easy to hide my powers from him. After a while, I stopped worrying.

I whistled to myself as I flipped the croquette over. I found that I actually quite enjoyed cooking for other people. It was especially nice to have the large kitchen all to myself, to use however I wished. Kondo had originally planned for a few of the other Shinsengumi to help me cook, but he decided I was doing so well on my own that he'd station them around the city to advertise for our event instead. I plopped the finished croquette onto the wax paper on the tray and began to roll another one around in bread crumbs. I threw it into the frying pan and it omitted a satisfying sizzling sound. I picked up the handle of the pan and slid the croquette around for a bit, flipping it over twice just to get it started, when I heard footsteps come up from behind me. I quickly turned around in a hazy confusion; Yamazaki had just been there moments ago. I then realized it was definitely not Yamazaki, and in fact the person I least expected to see here.

"Eh? This isn't the bathroom…" The man scratched his white hair in disappointment. I quickly turned back around to face the stove and pointed him in the opposite direction.

"The bathroom is on the other side of the restaurant. There's even a sign that says 'bathroom.'" I ignited a flame absentmindedly and began cooking one side of the croquette.

"What? I didn't see any signs." He sighed. "I thought this was the bathroom."

"There's a sign above this doorway too, that says 'kitchen, do not enter.'"

Gin didn't reply for a moment, and the room was quiet other than the sound of the croquette cooking. For a second I thought perhaps I had replied a bit too coldly, when suddenly I felt a small breath linger on the back of my neck. I dropped the pan onto the stove and quickly turned around. I hadn't even realized he'd gotten behind me.

"You can create fire too?" He asked casually, while at the same time picking at his ear. I shook my head frustratedly and raised my palm up to him.

"Don't scare me like that while I'm cooking." I sighed.

"Can you?" He asked me, not even batting an eye. I stared back at him in disbelief.

"No. Please get out of the kitchen."

"I knew a girl who could do that too. Actually you two kinda look alike." Suddenly, without any sign of hesitation, he grabbed the sides of my face in his hand and squeezed my cheeks in, so that my lips puckered out. He pulled me in closely to his face and narrowed his eyes as if studying my features. "Do you know her?"

I was stunned for a moment at his unexpected action. Then I quickly pulled away from him and began rubbing the sides of my face. "How would I know her… There's millions of other people on our planet too you know." I looked down, in sort of a pout. I could feel my cheeks burning up and I didn't want him to notice.

"Ah... I see. I guess you're right." He crossed his arms with one tucked into his yukata in a stance that was just too familiar for me to handle. We said nothing. Finally, I looked up at him and scratched my arm in discomfort,

"What… does she look like?"

He raised an eyebrow at me as if surprised I had talked. "A lot like you, actually. It's weird." He stuck his pinky finger up his nostril. I cringed at his grotesque nature and waited for him to keep talking. "Green eyes, dark eyebrows, a small face, pale skin." I began to squirm uncomfortably and pretended to look at the clock in hopes that he wouldn't recognize me. He stopped. "But she had long, jet black hair. Yours is brown and it looks kinda ratty, so I guess you guys can't be related… Unless you have different dads or something."

"We're not related..." I said, shaking my head. "I don't have siblings."

"Well, you two sure look alike other than the hair color. She's really pretty." He stared off into space for a moment as if recalling something. Then he let out a yawn and stretched up his arms. "I guess I better get going, I don't know how much longer I'm gonna be able to hold this pee in for. See you later." He dropped his arms down and turned away to leave the kitchen. Once he left I could feel the atmosphere get a little lighter. I let out a huge sigh and placed my hand on my forehead, turning back towards the stove. Gin was such an idiot.

* * *

The event ended at about seven-thirty. The rest of the Shinsengumi who weren't with us at the shop had returned from their stations throughout the city. Kondo congratulated everyone on a successful day and asked everybody to gather around, for he was going to announce the total amount of money we had raised.

"Everybody, I'd like to thank you all for working very hard today, and for helping to raise money for our wonderful city of Edo. I know it was hard work, especially because of the cold weather today, but still I'd like to let you all know that I very greatly appreciate each and every one of you coming out today." Everyone clapped and cheered. Kondo smiled and continued. "So anyway, getting to the point, I'm going to announce the total amount of money we raised today. Are you guys ready?" Everyone cheered once more and he raised both his arms up in the air. "We raised …" The room fell silent in anticipation. "…Six million, one hundred twelve thousand and eight yen!" His eyes were narrow with joy and his face pink from excitement. The room went crazy with the clapping and the yelling, and everyone began to swarm Kondo at once. He hugged everyone he could and wiped at his eyes. "Alright, alright everyone. We did a good job today, but now we've got to clean up. Every day comes to its end, and we've got to pack up our things and go. So, everyone, get to work!" Even when giving out orders, Kondo's voice never seemed to sound even the slightest bit bossy. And because of his genuinely friendly charisma, nobody had trouble listening to him. Everyone finished up their congrats with one another and almost immediately began to clean up. I too, stood up from the table and headed outside to take down the fliers we had posted all around the street.

"Ah, Hachi-chan. Actually, would you mind cooking us up something to eat? Toushi, Sougo, and I were working at the booth all day and we didn't get a chance to eat lunch."

I stopped mid track. I nodded at him and smiled. "Sure, but what about Yamazaki?" I looked around but couldn't seem to find him anywhere. I furrowed my brows.

"He left already. Said he had plans with a girl or something." Kondo reassured me.

"I bet it was with his mom." Sougo muttered. Hijikata let out a little snort as if agreeing.

"Oh, well, alright. I'll cook you guys something up." I headed into the kitchen.

I decided I'd make them each a bowl of unadon. I found a few packages of frozen eel in the fridge. Though I wasn't particularly one to cook with preserved ingredients, I figured they were all going to be too hungry to care. I let the eel melt before beginning to cook it. After a while, the smell of the food began to make my nose tingle, and my mouth water. I decided to kabayaki the eel, as it was my favorite way, or rather the only way I knew how to, prepare eel. I slid the four pieces of eel meat onto some white rice I had prepared earlier on the plates, and poured what was left of the sauce on top. Quite satisfied with what I had cooked, I proudly carried the four plates out to the table where the others were waiting. As soon as he spotted me coming out, Kondo's face immediately lit up.

"That looks delicious." He grinned, getting his fork ready. I placed each one of the plates delicately in front of them.

"Dig in." I said, sitting myself down. They all did. I could tell just how hungry they were by the way they scarfed down the plate of food in a matter of seconds. I didn't find myself to be that hungry, but that was simple due to the fact that on my planet, our bodies had adapted to only needing to eat about once a week. Still, I made an effort to eat the unadon, just so they'd be happy.

"Ah, man. This is so good." Kondo said, leaning back and patting his belly.

"It really is." Even Sougo seemed to be bloated with food. He smiled softly, making sure I was the only one who could see it.

"It…" Hijikata seemed to have stuttered for a moment.

"What's the matter, Toushi?" Kondo questioned. For a moment we sat and awaited what Hijikata had to say. Then suddenly Kondo widened his eyes and immediately turned to face him, "Toushi you… You didn't even use mayonnaise!" He gasped. All three of us laid our eyes on Hijikata, awaiting his explanation.

"You're… Right." Sougo murmured. "Hijikata, are you feeling alright? Do you have a deadly disease perhaps?" Sougo prodded at him with his index finger. But he didn't move. Instead he kept his fists on the table and his shoulders were tense.

"It was so good… I didn't even… need mayonnaise…" The room fell silent. Our mouths fell open in unison and we stared at Hijikata as if he'd just admitted to something wild. He kept his head low and said nothing. Kondo turned to look back at me.

"Hachi-chan, where'd you learn how to cook like this? It must be truly amazing for Toushi to have said something like that! Who taught you?" He asked, scratching his beard curiously.

I shook my head in modesty and let out a nervous chuckle. "Well when you're a single guy like me, you gotta learn how to cook for yourself." I stood up and began gathering our plates together.

"Hey, all three of us are single here, and we barely know how to boil an egg! I guess the younger generation does know a few more things than us, huh Toushi-chan?" Kondo wrapped one arm around Hijikata's shoulder. He looked up and smiled his rare smile. This made me smile back without even realizing it.

"Yeah, I guess so." He nodded. Somehow I felt a sense of approval.

"Hachiro-chan. More please." Sougo raised his plate up at me with both hands and had the most innocent expression on his face. In times like this, it was hard to believe such sadistic words once came out of such a sweet face.

"Tch. You guys are useless without me." I laughed jokingly, "Go out and get yourselves some girlfriends, really." I took the plate from Sougo's hands and stacked it onto the rest of them. I began heading into the kitchen when suddenly, someone's voice stopped me.

"Fine, then teach me how to cook." Hijikata stood up from the table and took a drag from his cigarette.

"What?" I asked, turning around. Sougo gave me a look as if asking the same question.

"Come on." Without giving me time to respond, he briskly walked by me and grabbed my arm, dragging me into the kitchen. I glanced over my shoulder and could see Sougo's eyes practically boring through the back of Hijikata's skull.

"Alright, go ahead and teach me." He handed me a pan and pushed the croquette ingredients on the counter towards me. I gave him a look of confusion and slowly wrapped my hand around the handle. "Just make one, I just want to see one." I looked at him for a while, and finally gave him a sigh of defeat. I shrugged, after all, this guy could use all the help he could get when it came to getting girls.

I began with pouring oil onto the pan so that it could warm up. Then I made the potato cake by flattening it out between my hands, and flopped it around in the bread crumbs after I thought it was a good enough shape. Then, I threw everything into the pan and let it fry. We both stood there for what seemed like an eternity, without saying a word. The only noise was that of the potato cake sizzling on the hot oil. After a few minutes, he spoke up.

"That's it? Is it this slow? How did you even manage to make so many this afternoon?" He asked, crossing his arms in disapproval. I let out a small grunt of frustration. How could I use my fire bending when he was standing only a foot away? My eyes searched the room in hopes of something that could distract him so I could quickly finish cooking the croquette. My eyes stopped at the tub of mayonnaise sitting on the edge of the counter. A little smirk tugged at the corner of my mouth and I outstretched my elbow a bit. With the pan still in hand, I slowly took a few steps back from the stove.

"Oh, right, I forgot the-" I pretended to turn around and my elbow caused the entire jar to come smashing to the ground. I quickly hopped out of the way to dodge any of the white substance from getting on my shoes. I looked up at Hijikata. The look on his face was priceless. His eyes were as round as his mouth, and his face went pale, almost matching the color of the mayonnaise that had splattered onto the ground.

"You…" He stuttered for a moment. I took the opportunity to quickly light a flame on my fist. I took a few steps back and watched as he knelt down in front of the sad pile of condiment. He stared at it for a long time, without turning around to face me. I finished the croquette and set the pan back onto the grill, quite satisfied that my plan had worked. "How could you—" He turned towards me, his eyes wild with anger. I held out a piece of the croquette and smiled sweetly at him.

"Try it," I said, extending the pair of chopsticks out to him. He stared at it, perplexed for a moment. I pushed it closer to him, urging him to take a bite. My eyes insisted. Finally he gave up, and let me feed it straight into his mouth. He chewed the food quietly for a moment, and swallowed. "Pretty good, huh?" I grinned. He stood up from the ground, as if the thought of the mayonnaise incident had completely slipped his mind. He looked at me, his eyebrows coming to a low arc in the middle and said,

"What… What's your secret? How is it possible that I don't feel the need to add mayonnaise when I eat your food? There's only been one other time like this… Tell me. Tell me what your secret technique is!" He gently lay one hand on my shoulder. Suddenly, I couldn't help it anymore. I let out a large laugh that echoed throughout the kitchen. He sounded crazy. He looked crazy. And it was all over a simple croquette. I grabbed the ingredients off the table and headed for the pantry.

"Ah, but I cannot tell you." I said teasingly "After all, it's what—" Suddenly I felt my legs slip out from beneath me. The bags along with my arms flew up into the air. My back and head fell backwards and I squeezed my eyes shut, embracing for the impact I was expecting from the hard tile floor. I waited, but strangely enough the impact did not come.

Hijikata breathed heavily, and lifted me up off the mayonnaise covered ground. He held onto me with his arms tucked beneath mine for a while, and slowly raised me back up.

"Hey Hachi-chan, how's the cooking going—" Kondo's voice came in through the kitchen. He stopped in his tracks at the door, and only stared at us. Hijikata quickly pushed me off of him as soon as he realized what was going on. He raised his hands in defense, but Kondo spoke before he could say anything. "Ohh. So that's why you refuse to date girls, Toushi." He snickered, raising one eyebrow.

"…I-Idiot! He slipped and I just caught him!" Hijikata's voice boomed. But Kondo seemed unaffected. He looked down with a smile and shook his head.

"No, no. I understand. It all makes sense now. Hachi-chan is the only one who's ever been able to cook something that you don't completely drench in mayonnaise. It's fate. Don't worry, I wont judge."

Hijikata flared his nostrils, "N-No, really! He just fell and I happened to catch him."

"Uh huh." Kondo smirked. Hijikata let out an angry huff of air and lit a cigarette he pulled out from his pocket.

"Tsk… Whatever." He made his way towards the door and slid past Kondo. "You guys are crazy." He stormed out of the restaurant. Kondo began to laugh, his body lurched forward, and he clenched his gut to keep from falling over. Sougo came wandering in through the door of the kitchen and stood beside Kondo.

"Did something happen?" He asked, curiously. He had been sitting alone outside without a clue as to what was going on. Kondo chuckled and patted him on the back.

"Toushi's finally got himself a little boyfriend." He sneered.

"…What? Who?"

Kondo said nothing and pointed towards me. I shrugged at Sougo. I hadn't a clue what was going on either.

"…Hachiro-san?" He asked in amazement. His nose crinkled and he furrowed his eyebrows at me. He knew it had to be a joke.

"No, well not really. But hey, this gives me an idea." Kondo said. He used his hands and signaled me to come closer. I raised an eyebrow at him, and approached the door cautiously. "You too, Sougo-san." He nodded, and all three of us leaned in close. "I have an idea." Kondo said, with an devious expression etched in his face.

"And that is…"

"We should pull a prank on Toushi. Tomorrow morning. I've got the perfect plan."

* * *

**Hello hello!~**

**Wow this chapter is quite long, **

**sorry for two lengthy chapters in a row! **

**I've been having lots of great ideas and writing splurges lately so I kind of force it all into one chapter**

**I hope you guys don't mind though :)**

**As many of you were anticipating, here is finally some Hijikata / Hachiro time~**

**The story's really beginning to come along now, it's getting quite interesting , isnt it? :)**

**I really hope you guys enjoyed this chapter as much as i enjoyed writing it,**

**THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING!**

**reviews are greatly appreciated!~**


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